Question Everything

The Prime Minister of Yemen correctly points out US hypocrisy on human rights & democracy:

"Why do they (US), who violate human rights, not engage in self-criticism instead of hurling accusations at the Third World, particularly the Arab world?" President Ali Abdullah Saleh asked at a public ceremony.

Saleh's outburst was sparked by the release of the US State Department's latest annual report on human rights that charged that Yemeni security forces "arbitrarily continued to arrest, detain and torture people".

"We are astonished by these human rights reports. Are rights being violated in Guantanamo (where the US holds suspected Islamist militants) and in Abu Ghraib (prison in Iraq), or in Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the Palestinian territories?" he asked.

Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice's statement that, "Pakistan is a model country for the Muslim world" supports his claims. Pakistan is a military dictatorship, ruled by General Pervez Musharraf, who came to power in a coup about 5 years ago. This whole "wer'e supporting democracy & human rights" line is a lame excuse to justify US imperialism, they don't really mean it. If you want to promote democracy & human rights you don't support dictatorships and you don't go around violating human rights.

The parliament of the US's puppet government in Iraq has finally met. Of course, they've said all the standard BS about "freedom" and "democracy" but Saddam Hussein's regime said the same thing. We shouldn't take it seriously, it's just rhetoric. The US is really in charge because it occupies the country with hundres of thousands of troops and because the elections were effectively restricted to parties/candidates who wouldn't go too far against the US. The fact that the parliament met inside the US "green zone" is a symbol of who its real masters are. The occupation also happens to be rife with corruption, including Halliburton's war profiteering.