Ignoring Geneva Convention Is an Idea Worthy of Goebbels

To show how immoral and despicable it was for Bush to decide to ignore the Geneva Convention, it is enough to look at William Shirer’s The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich. Hitler did not make a conscious decision to ignore the Geneva Convention until the very end of World War II, when it was clear that he was going to lose as the Allies advanced across Europe, although there were certainly earlier examples of his ignoring the Convention without making a formal decision to do so. Describing Hitler in early 1945, Shirer says:

Hitler was in a fine fury. He sacked Rundstedt for the last time on March 10, replacing him with Field Marshall Kesselring, who had held out so stubbornly and long in Italy. Already in February the Fuehrer, in a fit of rage, had considered denouncing the Geneva Convention in order, he said at a conference on the nineteenth, “to make the enemy realize that we are determined to fight for our existence with all the means at our disposal.” He had been urged to take his step by Dr. Goebbels, the bloodthirsty noncombatant, who suggested that all captured airmen be shot summarily in reprisal for their terrible bombing of the German cities. When some of the officers present raised legal objections Hitler retorted angrily:

To hell with that!… If I make it clear that I show no consideration for prisoners but that I treat enemy prisoners without any consideration for their rights, regardless of reprisals, then quite a few [Germans] will think twice before they desert."

This was one of the first indications to his followers that Hitler, his mission as a world conqueror having failed, was determined to go down, like Wotan at Valhalla, in a holocaust of blood — not only the enemy’s but that of his own people. At the close of the discussion he asked Admiral Doenitz “to consider the pros and cons of this step and to report as soon as possible.”

Doenitz cam back with his answer on the following day and it was typical of the man.

The disadvantages would outweigh the advantages . . . It would be better in any case to keep up outside appearances and carry out the measures believed necessary without announcing them beforehand.

Shirer says that in the end, “there was no general massacre of captured flyers or other prisoners of war (except the Russians),” but “several were done to death and the civil population was incited to lynch Allied air crews who parachuted to the ground.”

It appears that Hitler’s officer corps had more moral integrity than the American officer corps has. The Germans officers sort of stood up to Hitler on this issue. They said even if you violate the Convention, don’t admit it. American officers in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Cuba just rolled over and spit on the Geneva Convention, regardless of what that might mean for the future treatment of American soldiers who become prisoners.

Who was the American Goebbels in the Administration arguing for disregarding the Geneva Convention? It sounds as if it was future Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. However, this Administration is full of people, who like Goebbels, are bloodthirsty noncombatants.

American James Bond Sings Soprano

After firing the senior CIA spy chief and his deputy, the new CIA Director Porter Goss has ordered all CIA employees to "support the administration and its policies in our work,'' according to the New York Times. The Times story said that one former CIA official supported Goss' firings, but "A second former intelligence official said he was concerned that the memorandum and the changes represented an effort by Mr. Goss to stifle independence..... 'If Goss is asking people to color their views and be a team player, that's not what people at C.I.A. signed up for,' said the former intelligence official."

The commentators seem pretty united in saying that the main problem at CIA is not the spies, but the analysts. Goss claims he wants more CIA risk taking, but he has fired (or forced the resignation of) those officials on the spy side who are most inclined to risk taking. And he has told the analysts that their analysis had better support George Bush, i.e., that they had better say that everything in Iraq is perfect. There is no unrest. The Americans are in complete control. Iraqis love the Americans and their life under American rule. If he fires and intimidates enough people, those are certainly the reports that he will get.

He has already begun emasculating the James Bonds of the agency, and I'm sure he'll go after uppity women, too. He will certainly stifle all independent thought at the CIA.

I can't understand why Goss, who supposedly was a clandestine services officer, would want to destroy the clandestine services. The only reason I can think of is that he was a failure as a spook -- hence his leaving CIA and becoming a congressman -- and therefore is taking revenge on successful spooks. It's nice to have family money as Goss does. It may not be good for America, but it's good for Goss.

CNN is reporting that Goss denies that he ordered the CIA to color its intelligence in favor of the administration. It's not surprising that he would, since his order undercuts the whole purpose of the CIA. At the entrance to the CIA is the following Bible quotation, "Ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free." By making a mockery of that sentiment, Bush and Goss demonstrate that they apparently hate the truth and hate the Bible.

Secretary of State Changes from Protestant to Catholic

It appears that Colin Powell claims to be Episcopalian, or at least that's what one bio says. It was difficult to find a bio that lists his religion; so, it's probably not something he likes to talk about. Condi Rice comes from a Protestant background in Alabama, where her father was a Presbyterian minister, but in Colorado she attended a Catholic high school, St. Mary's Academy, and later Notre Dame University, as well as the nonsectarian University of Denver, according to the Denver Post. Powell's Episcopalian leanings indicate tolerance, as opposed to the rabid, hate-filled, born-again evangelicals in Bush's base. Rice's rejection of her Presbyterian upbringing seems to indicate that she shares the rigid, intolerant views that caused many conservative Catholic voters to vote against their fellow Catholic Kerry because of his views on abortion and other "moral" issues.

The ironic thing is that except for its Protestant north, Europe is mostly Catholic. Yet, because the Catholic Europeans are liberal (as opposed to the Catholic church itself), the Conservative Republicans hate them venomously, especially the French. Who would have thought that Henry VIII would be responsible for such a big difference in US foreign policy?

Safire Resigns from New York Times Column

In yet another resignation, William Safire is stepping down from writing his political column in the New York Times. Apparently he will be replaced. In the meantime, there will be no shortage of Jewish NYT columnists, including Tom Friedman and David Brooks. But, that's fine with me, because neither of them seems to be so wedded to the Zionist wing of Judaism as Safire. Safire's columns often read to me as if they had been dictated from Tel Aviv or the Knesset in Jerusalem.