By Stephen Lendman
12-29-13

No nations more egregiously violate legal, moral and ethical principles, standards and norms. None do so more contemptuously.

None operate more lawlessly. None more mock the season's spirit. None more do it throughout the year after year after year.

None are more disgraceful. None inflict more harm on humanity. None more threaten its survival.

None more urgently need to be held accountable for high crimes of war, against humanity and genocide.

The 1950 Nuremberg Principles defined crimes against peace to include:

"(i) Planning, preparation, initiation or waging of a war of aggression or a war in violation of international treaties, agreements or assurances; (and)

(ii) Participation in a common plan or conspiracy for the accomplishment of any of the acts mentioned under (i)."

Justice Robert Jackson was chief Nuremberg prosecutor. Robertjackson.org discussed "The Influence of the Nuremberg Trial on International Criminal Law," saying:

No one is above the law. "The Nuremberg trials established that all of humanity would be guarded by an international legal shield and that even a Head of State would be held criminally responsible and punished for aggression and Crimes Against Humanity."

Things haven't exactly turned out that way. International crimes against peace continue. Twentieth century "horrors...are many."

New millennium ones perhaps exceed them. Imagine two rogue terror states obscenely calling themselves democracies. Imagine them matching the worst of Hitler and Stalin.

Both world wars "lead the world community to pledge never again," said robertjackson.org. Nazi atrocities "were not isolated incidents."

Post-WW II, wars without end rage. Millions were ruthlessly slaughtered. No nations are more guilty than America and Israel. Their war on humanity continues.

Despite Nuremberg, they haven't been held accountable. They escaped punishment and justice. They avoided censure. They continue brutalizing, torturing, slaughtering, destroying and governing ruthlessly.

According to Nuremberg Tribunal Principles, planning, preparing, initiating, and waging wars of aggression or in violation of international treaties, agreements, conventions, or accepted standards are high crimes against peace.

They demand accountability under inviolable international law. Post-WW II alone, America committed direct or proxy aggression and genocide against North Korea, Southeast Asia, parts of Africa, Central America, and Eurasia.

According to Francis Boyle:

"(T)he peoples of the world have witnessed successive governments in the United States that have demonstrated little if any respect for fundamental considerations of international law, human rights, and the United States Constitution itself."

"Instead, the world has watched a comprehensive and malicious assault upon the integrity of the international and domestic legal orders by groups of men and women who are thoroughly Machiavellian in their perception of international relations and in their conduct of both foreign affairs and American domestic policy."

Washington is responsible for "an ongoing criminal conspiracy because of its serial wars of aggression, crimes against peace, crimes against humanity, and war crimes that are legally akin to those perpetrated by the former Nazi regime in Germany."

America willfully, maliciously, and repeatedly violates the letter and spirit of the:

UN Charter;

Nuremberg Charter, Judgment and Principles;

US Army Field Manual 27-10;

Law of Land Warfare;

Hague Conventions;

Geneva Conventions and Protocols; and  

all other international humanitarian laws.

Since 1948, Israel committed slow-motion genocide against Palestinians. It continues today. Gazans are harmed most.

Boyle calls Israel responsible for "inflicting outright genocide on the Palestinians in Gaza."

Both countries persecute their own. Thousands of political prisoners languish in their gulags. Their rights are systematically denied.

They're tortured and abused. They're brutalized for supporting right over wrong. They're punished extrajudicially.

Israel largely targets Palestinians. Praying to the wrong God is called terrorism. So is wanting to live free on their own land in their own country. Israel considers Muslims subhumans.

America's so-called war on terror reigns it on humanity. Freedom is eroding in plain sight. Constitutional rights don't matter.

Fundamental ones are considered quaint and out-of-date. Dissent is an endangered spies. Big Brother surveillance is the new normal. So are mumbo jumbo judicial rulings legitimizing it.

Federal Judge William Pauley's ACLU v. Clapper ruling is the latest example. He turned fundamental law on its head. He did so by calling lawless spying legal. He mocked judicial fairness doing it.

Last June, the ACLU filed suit. It challenged "the constitutionality of the National Security Agency's mass collection of Americans' phone records."

It argued that doing so violates fundamental Fourth and First Amendment rights. It didn't matter. Judge Pauley claimed otherwise. He spurned core constitutional protections doing so.

ACLU's deputy legal director Jameel Jaffer responded, saying:

"We are extremely disappointed with this decision, which misinterprets the relevant statutes, understates the privacy implications of the government’s surveillance and misapplies a narrow and outdated precedent to read away core constitutional protections."

"As another federal judge and the president’s own review group concluded last week, the National Security Agency’s bulk collection of telephony data constitutes a serious invasion of Americans’ privacy. We intend to appeal and look forward to making our case in the Second Circuit."

Full-blown tyranny is a hair's breadth away. The obscenity of Guantanamo is another example. Center for Constitutional Rights President Emeritus Michael Ratner calls it "12 years of US war crimes."

Over 150 victimized detainees remain. Most are uncharged, untried. Not a shred of evidence showed anyone held since Guantanamo opened committed any crimes.

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and other alleged 9/11 conspirators had nothing to do with what happened. They've been lawlessly held. They were brutally tortured. They're guilty by accusation. It's the American way.

"I want to make a prediction," said Ratner. "There will still be people there when President Obama leaves office, despite his promise to close Guantanamo in a year from when he went into office."

He lied. He doesn't give a damn. Nor does Congress or federal judges. Official policy is obscene. Indefinite detention uncharged, untried defines the worst of judicial unfairness.

It's "joined at the hip with our legal system," said Ratner. "It's an illegal, unconstitutional system. And it's sad that that's the case. So whether this Guantanamo closes, another one will open."

Dozens operate worldwide. Guantanamo if the tip of the iceberg. "(W)e're not winning this battle," said Ratner.

Injustice is the new normal. It's the law of the land. It threatens everyone. Police states operate this way.  America is by far the worst.

It's the world's leading human rights abuser. It spurns fundamental rights. It does so at home and abroad.

It governs unaccountably. It rules through intimidation, state terror and permanent wars on humanity. Its rap sheet is blood-drenched. It's responsible for countless millions of deaths.

It brutalizes innocent victims. Alleged 9/11 conspirators are on trial. They're wrongfully blamed for state-sponsored crimes.

"Think about it," said Ratner. "Twelve years after Guantanamo opened, "it's still going on. And those people were tortured."

"They were taken to secret sites. And then they were put in front of made-up trials, military commissions, completely made up, completely illegal, completely contrary to international law. And there's these charades going on down there."

"And one of the most unique (Orwellian) things" is that brutalized victims "had their memories classified. Think about that."

"The criminality that's happened to them, the torture that's happened to them, they are not allowed to speak about it."

"They can tell their lawyers about it, but the lawyers cannot tell the public about it, and it's classified memory - I mean, unheard of."

It's beyond Kafkaesque. It's American justice. It's none whatever. Political prisoners fare no better in US civil courts. Guilt by accusation applies. It's rubber-stamp.

It's outrageous. It doesn't matter. It's the law of the land. It's no different from Nazi Germany and Stalinist show trials. Kangaroo court justice is official policy.

Constitutional and international rights matter. So do Magna Carta principles. It dates from 1215. It's 800 years old. It stood the test of time.

America "utterly shredded an 800 year legal history that said people can't be jailed by an executive or king," said Ratner.

"They have a right to go to court, a right to test their detention, a right to be tried...(a right to prove their innocence before an impartial judge and jury), "and (require) convict(ion) before they're sentenced."

No longer. Diktat law prevails. It bears repeating. Police states operate this way. America is by far the worst.

Israel is a conspiratorial junior partner. It reigns terror across the Muslim world and beyond. It's committing slow-motion genocide against Palestinians.

It's suffocating over 1.7 million Gazans ruthlessly. It lawlessly incarcerates thousands of political prisoners.

It conducts multiple daily incursions into Palestinian communities. It terrorizes innocent people doing it. Abductions, torture and imprisonments follow.

So does murder in cold blood. On December 27, The Census Department of the Palestinian Ministry of Detainees published its annual report.

It makes disturbing reading. It documents 3,874 Palestinians kidnapped in 2013 alone. Over 930 children were affected.

Four detainees died in custody. They were murdered by torture or neglect. Around 75% of Palestinian abductees were age 30 or younger.

Census Department head Abdul-Nasser Farawna said Israel deliberately targets young Palestinians, including children. They represent core Palestinian society.

Israel fears them. They're steadfast. They're courageous. They want freedom. They want independence. They're willing to go all out for what's right.

It's why they're "imprisoned, tortured, abused and intimated," said Farawna.

"The most serious violation is the fact that kidnapped children are beaten and tortured during interrogation. They were humiliated, subjected to physical and emotional torture."

Abuse begins at the moment of arrest. "They're blindfolded and placed into military jeeps where they are often beaten again, before they are dragged to interrogation facilities in military camps or settlements."

"Under interrogation, they face the most cruel methods of torture and abuse, physical and emotional, while being verbally threatened, amidst threats to harm their families unless they provide information."

Around 1,400 prisoners have serious health problems. They're denied proper treatment. Doing so constitutes cruel and unusual punishment.

It inflicts pain and suffering. For many, slow-motion death by neglect follows. It can take months or years. It can be in or out of prison. Release often comes too late to matter.

Sham peace talks continue. Longstanding Israeli collaborators represent Palestine.

John Kerry is Israel's man in Washington. He's going all out to be America's worst ever Secretary of State. He works collaboratively with Israeli hardliners.

He represents their interests. He spurns fundamental Palestinian rights. He makes a mockery of peace, equity and justice. So does the most extremist Knesset in Israeli history.

Fascists rule. Netanyahu leads them. On December 27, the Times of Israel headlined "As peace talks plow on, right tries to make a legislative stand," saying:

Proposed Knesset legislation "seek(s) to annex or strengthen Israel's hold over portions of the West Bank..."

Extremist MKs want Israeli sovereignty declared over privately held Palestinian land. They want grand theft legitimized.

Legislation is titled "The Bill to Apply Israeli Law to the Jordan Valley 5774 - 2013." It's nearly identical to how Israel annexed Golan.

The measure "quickly won the support of the of the Knesset's most influential figures," said Times of Israel.

They include "Coalition Chairman Yariv Levin (Likud), Law Committee Chairman David Rotem (Yisrael Beytenu), former Knesset speaker Reuven Rivlin (Likud), Jewish Home faction chair Ayelet Shaked, former Shas chairman Eli Yishai, and at least 13 other lawmakers."

The bill is the latest effort to steal Palestinian land. Others were introduced. More will follow.

The Jordan Valley bill states in part:

"The future of the Jordan Valley begins in the Israeli consciousness. Israel must decide to apply its sovereignty to this broad region, which has a relatively small Palestinian population, and to say openly: 'The Jordan Valley will remain under Israeli sovereignty forever.' "

Israel wants much more than Jordan Valley land. It currently controls over 60% of the West Bank.

It wants it officially annexed. It wants it declared official Israeli territory. It wants Jerusalem as its exclusive capital.

It wants Palestinians denied all rights. It wants resisters killed or imprisoned. Washington offers full support.

Both countries partner in crimes of war, against humanity and genocide. They deplore peace, equity and justice.

It's longstanding policy. It's ruthless. It's relentless. It's unforgiving. It's imperial lawlessness writ large.

Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.

His new book is titled "Banker Occupation: Waging Financial War on Humanity."

http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanII.html

Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com.

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