Burden of proof

[semperfiona]

Iraq agrees to Security Council resolution (CNN)

I've just realized, though it's been the case all along, that the Security Council resolution leaves Iraq in the position of having to prove a negative: the non-existence of weapons of mass destruction. No matter whether the inspectors don't find anything, the US can still say "they must be hidden". Isn't this why the US legal system puts the burden of proof on the accuser? What happened to "innocent until proven guilty"? Proving a negative is *always* impossible.

Comments

[terribleangel.livejournal.com]

See, I'm of the opinion "who gives a rats ass". The United States is a sovriegn entity, independant of the UN. We are under no obligation to knowtow to the U.N., or allow it to set forigen policy for us. We have mountains of circumstancial evidence, the testimonies of numberous defectors and informants, and an 11 year history of cat and mouse with this lunatic. You can NOT tell me that you honestly belive Hussien and his regime do not have, or are in the process of developing, weapons of mass destruction. Weapons that will be used on American citizen's, either by Iraqi hand, or through the hand of a terrorist network.

[harlequinaide.livejournal.com]

Actually, they're much more likely to use American weapons and money, like Osama Bin Ladin did. Considering how poor Iraq is, and how crappy their weapons would be, why wouldn't terrorists buy from the best weapons manufacturer in the world? Especially when the CIA is more than willing to sell to them. The CIA is, after all, the preferred arms dealer of enemies of freedom everywhere.

This is why the US refused to sign off on the World Court until they agreed not to prosecute US soldiers for war crimes, incidentally. It had nothing to do with "international sovereignty," and everything to do with the fact that the US intelligence agencies commit more war crimes in a year than a hard working Congan general. If we want a scapegoat for terrorism, we should be looking a little closer to home. (Not that Hussein is innocent, just that his weapons of terror are inferior to ours, and a smart terrorist doesn't buy wholesale.)

[harlequinaide.livejournal.com]

There is no "due process" for enemies of King George.

[terribleangel.livejournal.com]

Actually, they're much more likely to use American weapons and money, like Osama Bin Ladin did

If by weapons you mean boxcutters and airplanes. Yes, the terrorists more than likely aquired those blades in America. and used American money to buy the plane tickets. The asistance UBL got from the US was around 20-30 years ago. We gave him weapons, training and money to fight the communists. We did it a lot. Its biting us in the ass, i agree.

The CIA is, after all, the preferred arms dealer of enemies of freedom everywhere.

Again, 20-30 years ago. They are probabbly doing it now, too. Selling weapons to those who we are trusting to help us fight terrorists.



This is why the US refused to sign off on the World Court until they agreed not to prosecute US soldiers for war crimes, incidentally. It had nothing to do with "international sovereignty," and everything to do with the fact that the US intelligence agencies commit more war crimes in a year than a hard working Congan general. If we want a scapegoat for terrorism, we should be looking a little closer to home

Last I checked, the US does not intentionally target civilians. I'd like to see some hard evidence of US troops acting on offical orders intentionally killing non-combatants. Not to say it doesn't happen, but no where near the scale that our enemies have done to us.

Last I checked, also, 3000+ people are dead today because of terroists slamming 2 passenger airlines into some skyscrapers. "War Crimes" my ass. Anything we do pales in comparison to these Jihadists who think they are doing the will of the Lord by wiping out people who pose them no threat, who have done no harm to them. We do some dirty things. I will not deny that. But we do them against people who pose a threat to us.

We don't need a scapegoat for Terrorism. We have Terrorists and those who support them. And guess what? Iraq is full of both.