In U.S. foreign policy, there are bogeymen and allies. Bogeymen are evil tyrants who oppose freedom. Allies are stable international partners. What one realizes (once they stop watching cable news) is that whether the U.S. considers you a bogeyman or an ally is entirely independent of how those regimes treat their own people.
Here’s a tweet from CFR’s Micah Zenko, based on data from Amnesty International:
Global executions, 2012
China: 1000+
Iran: 314
Iraq: 129
Saudi Arabia: 79
US: 43
Yemen: 28+
Sudan: 19+
Afghan: 14
(http://t.co/wg5RKGQTs3)— Micah Zenko (@MicahZenko) October 27, 2013
Granted, state executions is merely one measure of tyranny, but as you can see, there is a mix of bogeymen and allies on this list. Washington consistently cites China’s human rights abuses and I can’t tell you how many times neo-cons have made note of the Iranian regime’s penchant for executions to justify taking a hard-line against the Islamic Republic. But we rarely, if ever, hear that U.S. allies Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Yemen, and Afghanistan – all supported with American tax dollars – also make the top of this list.
You’ll note too of course that the U.S. makes an honored appearance on this list. What great company to have in some of the worst despotisms in the world.
For more on a related issue of disgrace for the U.S., see Anthony Gregory’s piece on America’s prisons.
Considering drone strikes, and other Aempyrial activities, shouldn't the US totals be top of the list?
The USA moved into a league of her own when she dropped the first atomic weapons and then went on to supervise the construction of a line of nuclear reactors all along the Pacific Rim. Even the mass murders of the Nazis, Stalin, and Mao, who ran other secular materialist empires, will not in the long run be seen as the monstrous evil that is the United States. With her leading contribution to global warming and the bio engineering she further assures her place in the history of monsters who will live as long as men have historical memory. This pissing around with execution statistics is just a side show propaganda move.
Your comment is way over the line. The US has often gone to the dark side since Truman dropped the A-bombs on an already defeated Japan. I deplore most of its policies today. But to state that the US has been worse than Hitler, Stalin, or Mao defies credibility.
Dulce Et Decorum Est III & A Taste of Armageddon
(or the empire has no clothes but a disposition matrix)
In due homage to Horace, Owen and Mikhail i humbly nod
for how sweet & glorious it must be to kill or die for God & country by hokum's duty through dishonor
so c'mon kiddies, any up for good jingo sport?
who’s hungry & poor, who wants to play the hubris 'anything for profit' killing game?
As effusively embedded newspapers rah rah their pied pier patriotism with journalistic integrity & objectivity ha ha!
as a new battle lies just around the corner & armed forces day just weeks away hooray!
rally loyal citizens to whitewash warm innocuous blood off disgraced musket & sullied polluted flag
strike up the marching parade manifested by destiny down main street usa hey hey!
Awaken & open thine eyes xenophobic folk, visit & see your overseas deeds of nefarious brutality
for as americans you're liable for this appalling tax-paid violence exported to hamlets & villages
assaulting families who've never did you any harm in lands you've never heard of, nor care less for
so step on up, one & all, for everyone here is accountable & responsible for this odious debacle
Take a trip citizens to the overflowing morgues filled with small smashed bodies, once toddlers full of laughter & life
deeply inhale the rancid stench of scorched flesh crispy burnt to a black bubbly mass by melting phosphorus
gaze into doll dead eyes frozen forever by shock & awe renditioned via your God blessed terror raining down hill
atop a cold gurney a stiff finger from a tiny hand amidst a pile of mangled flesh is pointing at you war supporters
Watch as grief-stricken fathers zombie-wander in shattered stumbling silence
sifting through ragged debris & devastating destruction searching for lost sons & missing daughters
discovering ripped wet mangled body parts strewn about as pieces of a human jig-saw puzzle
taking home the ear, the hand, the foot to be quietly buried while 6000 miles away 'heroes' giggle & dub this 'bugsplat'
Hearken to the heart-piercing shrieks as soul-torn asunder mothers wail like howling wild animals
as they find their loves buried, broken & bloody in the rubble of your glorious works
then if you can, please explain to the unresponsive moaning neonatal orphan
why your armed forces just murdered his parents…by accident, then wave a condolence payment in his face
Celebrate as your special op-forces silently & quickly dig our bullets from civilian bodies
to cover their tracks from being at the wrong address…again
declare a holiday murdered women at a bridal shower or when 4 kids are droned to smithereens while tending sheep
rejoice in exported evil exploits as great american victories for which your war crimes always are
Trust flim-flam, the PR propaganda spin from your MSM complicit mouthpiece
praise your taxes which finances anglo-terrorism through illegal & immoral aggressive violence
raise your false flag ever higher to cover the rising pile where the butchered lie
however dear good christian citizens, do not trust that any civic rag could ever soar over the sick slaying of the innocent
Consider Fallujha surrounded & caged, then the cowering cringing unarmed civilian inhabitants
shot, burned & barbequed like slaughtered sitting ducks in a ‘free-fire zone’ shooting gallery
ponder upon your sanctimonious attack at a school in Bajour where 69 children are massacred by joystick
this is Sand Creek, Wounded Knee, My Lai, Haditha, & other mass-media contorted & distorted great triumphs
which to no doubt in my mind, the next war crime called a ‘battle’ will be anointed too, of course, ta! ta!
The Silver Drone with Coca-Cola Cluster
What audacity it must take to set yourself apart from those who serve in the pressure cooker
for a kid gangsta of capitalism to sip a cold coke tightly clasped
while the other hand is stroking a joystick & with just a gentle whack
8000 miles away human beings who have never done his or hers any harm are now droned into bugsplat
What exceptional bravery this act of aggressive violence must trigger
for s/he might suffer from carpal tunnel syndrome or bear a blister on the finger
with nerves of steel ne'er to complain for lives are at stake so s/he carries on & pushes the button of terror
careful, what if the soda spilled thereby rendering the keyboard useless? Oh the horror!
To wreak out death upon terrorists diabolically disguised as sheep-herding children, ah the discerning bravery
to slaughter dangerous pregnant women at a bridal shower, what pluck & heroism
to kill marauding medics & first-responders daring to help the wounded from your earlier kill, irreproachable daring
such gallantry and fearlessness one must exhibit to slaughter mourners at a funeral procession
So to show recognition to the brave souls who kill at command at the press of a knob 1/2 a world yonder a distinguished 'warfare' medal of honor has been created to award those who have no honor
announced with grandiose fanfare & full flags a' flapping just the other day by war criminal DS Panetta
this will outrank the bronze star, the purple heart & what a triumph is that america?
Such a propaganda coup d'état by the bureaucrats in subterranean dusty think tanks deem
spun a wonderful way to legitimize a most immoral & illegal act that defines odium
as they flim-flammed & came up with this 'combat' decoration for a most despicable accomplishment
still i wonder what lucky american school kid will be the first to touch one or to toss it down a toilet
Back at home in the united states of mordor in vat is now known as da faterland
a great cackle of cheering among thunderous applause droned at every school, church & walmart throughout the homeland
to praise & pay tribute to those daring war-idols who've earned such a distinguished medal confer
the much coveted and respected; 'Silver Drone with Coca-Cola Cluster'
For who else should earn by total disregard to personal safety with such displays of video gallantry & virtual valor won
nobody else could deserve such a high tribute & renowned award squealed Leon Panetta from atop a nefarious pile of splattered blood & bleached broken bones swept under the rug by the embedded media & acquiescent proletariat
these extraordinary actions by lightening slight of hand manipulation upon a joystick of discriminating death with unthinking critical process performed by our blue-blooded obedient hired guns
to illegally & immorally murder anyone anywhere anytime for any reason above the rule of law is now the definition of American Hero & the legalities for the justification of it are classified..shh . 'secret'
sure, china executed 1000 convicted crinimals. and they all
got a fair show trial.
the us? 48 got a trial. you may debate as to whether
they were fair or not. a further 5000 or so were executed
on “suspicion” of being “militants.”
what the f@ck does that mean? “suspected militant”
it’s used all the time in the press, presuming the
gub’mint knows all, and these were really bad guys,
and no, we can’t tell you, cause it’s a secret.
Saudi Arabia is NOT supported in any way, shape, or form by American tax dollars. If anything, cheap Saudi oil has supported America all these years.
The White Letter from The White House Smells not like a White Rose & it Stinks to High Heaven
First obama murdered sheep-herders and mourners inside of foreign nations that he told us we are at war with
so the people shopped at walmart to demonstrate their shame and displeasure
then obama assassinated children and other innocents in countries we were not war with
so flags & troops were honored at every sports game,school and church around the land in garrulousness gratitude
Some lawyers screamed foul as did a few with conscience akin to Chomsky, Hedges & Blum
but their voices were drowned out by the silence of the bored & apathetic, the meekly submissive
still the good loyal citizens did scream for more guns as their constitutional right
& american idol worship is supposed to be a killer tonight so guess which item takes priority?
Consequently obama & the exalted mighty military murdered an unarmed american across the pond defecating on due process by defacto procedure
so what did WE THE PEOPLE then do you ask?
they gulped downed a blue pill tunneled their head deeper into the sand so to breath more patriotically
hush hush now little children its all a transparent secret nothing to see here just move along
Meanwhile a depressed american teenager with his cousin out looking for his murdered father
stopped along a dirt road at dusk in the heart of a vast desert praying for his dad
sitting around the fire in the middle of a cookout , just these two american kids
when without warning silence was broken by an act of terrorism as they were subsequently droned to smithereens by the us military who then anointed this as 'bugsplat'
Ah but some torches did light up more intensely this time as they descended upon the white house
so obama & his gang of hooligans had to reluctantly crawl out of their dark dungeon
they argued with legal thickets of sharpened stakes, moats, pickets, shielded by secrets & lies atop turrets no one could reach
through a tapestry of intricate semantics innuendos & bizarre definitions they declared they were upholding the constitution oxymoronically tagging this odium as wise and ethical
Claiming that their research was so sensitive & so secret that it could not be revealed
our divine heroes would then be exposed to violence & that would be quite unamerican
if that materialized whistleblowers then would be squased under the heel of the MSM
trust us, believe in us, and move along now good citzen nothing for you here to see or ponder
Cattle mooed meekly as they contentedly chewed the crass cud of american idol worship
embedded sheep bleated reverently to the wolves in wool via indoctrination by years of cognitive brainwashing and dissonance bleaching via tv and publik schoolin'
the superbowl was a commercial success & beyonce lip-synced flawlessly again
& the flags, ah, the flags flew so high & piously, almost above it all, but did i see, a bloodstain, a tear or was it a puff of smoke?
??
Saudi Arabia is NOT supported in any way, shape, or form by American tax dollars. If anything, cheap Saudi oil has supported America all these years.