[LINK] bin Laden is dead

[Fernando Cassia]

On Tue, May 3, 2011 at 10:33 PM, David Boxall
<david.boxall at hunterlink.net.au> wrote:
> You're talking about a culture of intemperance that incites the
> feeble-minded to acts of terror
> <http://www.boingboing.net/2011/01/08/congresswoman-gabrie.html>. Hardly
> surprising.
>

I share the concerns expressed here that _in theory_ and "according to
the book" (international law) the USA should have informed the
Pakistan authorities of their incursion. The big question is how to do
that without preventing leaks of that information, specially if you
suspect the target has some local assistance.

Playing devil´s advocate, I also wonder what would the US say if a
chopper from Cuba enters US airspace lands and kidnaps the terrorists
wanted for bombing a Cuban airline plane which killed 78, which US
courts have refused to hand over.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cubana_Flight_455

Cuba and Venezuela condemned a US court's decision to acquit a veteran
anti-communist militant and former CIA agent, Luis Posada Carriles.
[wanted for bombing a Cuban airplane which killed 78]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-13026870

Back to the topic... the little care for international regulations and
procedures ("red tape" for them)... My theory is that it´s highly
embedded in the US military psyche (from its top commanders down, or
perhaps in their training) not to care a bit about international
regulations, the U.N., international law, or what others think (aka
"the Cow Boy attitude" **). After all, if you are military power #1,
you can write your own rules, or nor care what everyone else says.

It could be seen from the Abu Grahib handling of prisoners (abuses
which AFAIK did not happen on areas managed by other countries´
forces, only in US ones), to the US military not recognising the
jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court, to the refusal to
grant POW status to Guantanamo detainees, giving them the rights
offered by the Geneva Convention, etc etc.

I also remember an incident after the Haiti quake where aid planes
were circling the capital waiting for their turn to land, and the US
military took control of the Port Au Prince control tower and
proceeded to give priority to land and take-off to all US airplanes
putting everyone else at the bottom of the queue. [2]

For some reason I suspect the British and the Australians are much
more likely to follow procedures and care about international law and
international agreements than their colleagues at the Pentagon.

...And don´t get me started on their total disregard for the
almost-universal metric system[1]. (joke ;)

Anyway, to end my participation in this thread, I´ll quote the wise
words of that magnificent movie titled "Dr. trangelove":

"Gentlemen, you can't fight in here! This is the War Room!"

FC
[1] "Australia's largely successful transition to the metric system
contrasts with the ongoing opposition to metrication in the United
States"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metrication_in_Australia

[2] http://pages.citebite.com/h6h1w1n4laqq