Thursday, June 02, 2005

DRUDGE HAS MORE ON AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL, who called the Bush administration "architects of torture" this week. If the many, many, wonderful analysis pieces regarding the idiocy of using the term "gulag," or AI's positions in general aren't enough to convince the average American that AI has a political agenda, perhaps this piece from the Washington Times will.

Federal Election Commission records show that William F. Schulz, executive director of Amnesty USA, contributed $2,000 to Mr. Kerry's campaign last year. Mr. Schulz also has contributed $1,000 to the 2006 campaign of Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, Massachusetts Democrat.

Also, Joe W. "Chip" Pitts III, board chairman of Amnesty International USA, gave the maximum $2,000 allowed by federal law to John Kerry for President. Mr. Pitts is a lawyer and entrepreneur who advises the American Civil Liberties Union.

AI defended itself by noting that it is part of the elite and miniscule class of people that once criticised Bill Clinton, and reminded everyone that they are a "nonpartisan" organization.

Oh...well if they say so.

While AI is making busy making this "strong case" that they are not a bunch of partisan hacks, Secratary General Irene Kahn is also defending the group's use of the term "gulag."

Khan rejected a suggestion that Amnesty's use of the emotive term "gulag" had turned the debate into one over semantics, and distracted attention from the situation in the detention centers.

"What we wanted to do was to send a strong message that ... this sort of network of detention centers that has been created as part of this war on terrorism is actually undermining human rights in a dramatic way which can only evoke some of the worst features of human rights scandals of the past," she said.

Perhaps Kahn has not been following the news lately. No one is talking about the "human rights violations" anymore. Rather the discussion has moved to the subject of AI's motives. Personally, I am glad they used the term. It has put AI under a microscope of scrutiny and, with each passing day, their credibility in this matter is further eroded.

But enough from me. "Jarhead" Armandt has a simple solution to the problem. An exchange, if you will.

1 comment:

Armand said...

Of course, the pejorative spin AI implies with the use of the term "gulag" has little to do with human rights and everything to do with their propensity to detest anything that resembles work.

Would it be accurate to say that AI is therefore exploiting these prisoners to promote their own political "ideas."