HRW and Amnesty say (some) US drone strikes against intl law

[Cain]

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[LMNO]

Impossible!  The man won the Nobel Peace Prize!

[Don Coyote]

Not surprised
Depressed, but glad there were studies done.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

I have the weirdest feeling these days, that the US is just... unravelling.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

YOUR AVATAR!

[The Good Reverend Roger]

I have the weirdest feeling these days, that the US is just... unravelling.

No, it's more like the USA forgot to put on its make up one day.

[Cain]

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[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

I have the weirdest feeling these days, that the US is just... unravelling.

No, it's more like the USA forgot to put on its make up one day.

Forgot to put on its makeup, started peeping into the neighbor's bedroom windows, took a shit on their lawn, and killed the other neighbor's dog.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

I have the weirdest feeling these days, that the US is just... unravelling.

No, it's more like the USA forgot to put on its make up one day.

Forgot to put on its makeup, started peeping into the neighbor's bedroom windows, took a shit on their lawn, and killed the other neighbor's dog.

We were doing all of that shit long before we were even a nation, the only proof of which I need offer mostly lives in reservations in the Dakotas and Arizona.

We just sorta stopped pretending to be the good guys about the horrible shit we do.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

I have the weirdest feeling these days, that the US is just... unravelling.

No, it's more like the USA forgot to put on its make up one day.

On that topic...

My browser just locked solid.   

But with a title like that, I'll be looking at it tonight.

[Cain]

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[The Good Reverend Roger]

Got it. 

But not a subscriber.   

First 5 paragraphs are good, though.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

This system needs the lubricating oil of hypocrisy to keep its gears turning. To ensure that the world order continues to be seen as legitimate, U.S. officials must regularly promote and claim fealty to its core liberal principles; the United States cannot impose its hegemony through force alone. But as the recent leaks have shown, Washington is also unable to consistently abide by the values that it trumpets. This disconnect creates the risk that other states might decide that the U.S.-led order is fundamentally illegitimate.

Of course, the United States has gotten away with hypocrisy for some time now. It has long preached the virtues of nuclear nonproliferation, for example, and has coerced some states into abandoning their atomic ambitions. At the same time, it tacitly accepted Israel's nuclearization and, in 2004, signed a formal deal affirming India's right to civilian nuclear energy despite its having flouted the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty by acquiring nuclear weapons. In a similar vein, Washington talks a good game on democracy, yet it stood by as the Egyptian military overthrew an elected government in July, refusing to call a coup a coup. Then there's the "war on terror": Washington pushes foreign governments hard on human rights but claims sweeping exceptions for its own behavior when it feels its safety is threatened.

The reason the United States has until now suffered few consequences for such hypocrisy is that other states have a strong interest in turning a blind eye. Given how much they benefit from the global public goods Washington provides, they have little interest in calling the hegemon on its bad behavior. Public criticism risks pushing the U.S. government toward self-interested positions that would undermine the larger world order. Moreover, the United States can punish those who point out the inconsistency in its actions by downgrading trade relations or through other forms of direct retaliation. Allies thus usually air their concerns in private. Adversaries may point fingers, but few can convincingly occupy the moral high ground. Complaints by China and Russia hardly inspire admiration for their purer policies.

The ease with which the United States has been able to act inconsistently has bred complacency among its leaders. Since few countries ever point out the nakedness of U.S. hypocrisy, and since those that do can usually be ignored, American politicians have become desensitized to their country's double standards. But thanks to Manning and Snowden, such double standards are getting harder and harder to ignore.

To quote in part

Oh, shit yes.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

This system needs the lubricating oil of hypocrisy to keep its gears turning. To ensure that the world order continues to be seen as legitimate, U.S. officials must regularly promote and claim fealty to its core liberal principles; the United States cannot impose its hegemony through force alone. But as the recent leaks have shown, Washington is also unable to consistently abide by the values that it trumpets. This disconnect creates the risk that other states might decide that the U.S.-led order is fundamentally illegitimate.

This should be engraved over the door of every university classroom in the country.  And tattoed onto the foreheads of every sitting president.

[Cain]

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