From: Hermit (virus@hermit.net)
Date: Sun Sep 14 2003 - 12:20:44 MDT
Unfortunately for the validity of Jonathan Davis' attempted criticisms, the premis were accurate and recognizable. That's what made the article's Chinese response seem "reasonable", the piece spooky, and the consequences, "plausible".
Some International treaties that the Bush administration has withdrawn from, violated or abandonded:[*]Anti-Ballistic Missile (1972): The administration scrapped the ABM Treaty between the United States and Soviet Union because it barred development of national missile defenses.
[*] START II (1993): The U.S.-Russian accord required each side to reduce strategic nuclear weapons from 6,000 to a range of 3,000-3,500 by 2007. Bush unilateraly abroggated this treaty.
[*] Comprehensive Test Ban (1996): The treaty banned all nuclear test explosions, but the administration says it would limit U.S. research.
[*] Kyoto Protocol (1997): Aimed at combating global warming, it is backed by 178 nations. Bush rejected it on grounds that it would harm the U.S. economy and exempt developing nations. Bush promised to offer alternatives for dealing with the perceived problems.
[*] Biological weapons (1995): The administration abandoned the United Nations accord that set out enforcement mechanisms for the treaty. U.S. negotiators said that the treaty threatened industry and national security.
[*] Land Mine Ban (1997): The administration rejected the treaty, which calls for the destruction of anti-personnel land mines.
[*] International Criminal Court (1997): The treaty has created the first permanent international tribunal to prosecute war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity. The administration says the accord infringes on U.S. sovereignty and put U.S. troops at risk.
[*] Small Arms Control (2001): The administration blocked two key provisions: regulation of civilian ownership of military weapons and restrictions on trade to rebel movements.
[*} The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child: The Uni neither ted States shares the dubious distinction with Somalia of not having signed this treaty, never mind ratifying it*.
[*] The Grand Charter of the UN: The Administration has repeatedly ignored or voided provisions of the grand charter, most obviously in Iraq. The idea of a preventive war as advocated in the National Security Strategy runs directly counter to the provisions of the Grand Charter.
[*] The Convention relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War: The Administration's action in regard to prisoners in Afghanistan and Iraq has gutted this treaty of any meaning.
[*] International convention on Torture: The US has repeatedly engaged in violating this treaty particulary when it has come to dealing with members of suspected terrorist organizations.
I could continue, but then, so could anyone who cared to investigate for themselves.
Jonathan Davis should read the National Security Strategy (www.whitehouse.gov/nsc/nss.pdf). This document purports to address the "new realities" of our age, particularly the "proliferation of weapons of mass destruction" and "terrorist networks armed with the agendas of fanatics". The NSS claims that these new threats are so novel and so dangerous that we should "not hesitate to act alone, if necessary, to exercise our right of self-defense by acting preemptively." This document makes it clear that a threat need not necessarily be military, to draw an attack by the US, but instead blatantly states that the US reserves the right to preemptively or preventively attack any nation which threatens "the preeminence" of the US. This statement, according to military analysts, including Janes and the FAS is largely responsible for the current buildup of Chinese military expenditure.
The US has previously acted against its citizens of Eastern origin, most notoriously during WW II, but the degree of repression levied against Orientals has been second only to that deployed against native Indians.
The trouble with owning weapon systems, no matter how terrifying, is that there is always a temptation to justify their use. For example, the US planned to respond to a potential USSR invasion of Europe in 1998 by turning Western Europe into a nuclear, biological and chemical holocaust (public disclosure of stolen NATO documents by numerous news outlets in 1969). As another example, it is well known that the US has draconian plans to counter internal civil unnrest or the consequences of biocides whether due to biological warfare or other causes. Less well known outside defense circles, is that exercises modelling such responses usually include nuclear options.
I note that the Chinese prediliction to self-destruct was raised by me in private discussion with Jonathan Davis and is a separate issue and not germane to those explored in this "future history." As a final rejoinder, Jonathan Davis' ability to detect "unconcealed approval" of genocide (irrespective of source or target) or "overt anti-Americanism" and "pathological hatred of America" speaks poorly of his ability to differenciate between fiction and reality.
Hermit
[hr]
*Perhaps because of a powerful Farm lobby objecting to reports such as this and concerned that ratification of the treaty would impact their labor pool:
In the United States, over 300,000 children worked as hired laborers on commercial farms, frequently under dangerous and grueling conditions. Human Rights Watch found that child farmworkers in the United States worked long hours for little pay and risked pesticide poisoning, heat illnesses, injuries, and life-long disabilities. They accounted for 8 percent of working children in the United States but suffered 40 percent of work-related fatalities.
Children working on U.S. farms often worked twelve-hour days, sometimes beginning at 3:00 or 4:00 a.m. They reported routine exposure to dangerous pesticides that cause cancer and brain damage, with short-term symptoms including rashes, headaches, dizziness, nausea, and vomiting. Young farmworkers became dizzy from laboring in 100/F temperatures without adequate access to drinking water, and were forced to work without access to toilets or hand washing facilities.
Agriculture was the most dangerous occupation open to children in the United States and caused high rates of injury from work with knives, other sharp tools, and heavy equipment. An estimated 100,000 children suffered agriculture-related injuries during the year. http://www.hrw.org/wr2k1/children/child5.html
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