Pixelated Semantics

A schizotypical inventory

The obliteration of human liberty

The issue of 'death squads' operating in Iraq is gaining media attention - though some sources seem to play down the involvement of the government and coalition forces. It's also interesting that the report on the ABC's Lateline last night had a mysterious 'technical difficulty' at the exact moment their Iraq correspondent began to discuss the topic. Only a handful of commentators have so far related the issue to America's 'universal death squads' (e.g. Predator missile strikes in Pakistan and Yemen) - which were declared by Presidential order in 2001 - and as a recent UN report observed:

'Empowering governments to identify and kill "known terrorists" places no verifiable obligation upon them to demonstrate in any way that those against whom lethal force is used are indeed terrorists. While it is portrayed as a limited "exception" to international norms, it actually creates the potential for an endless expansion of the relevant category to include any enemies of the State, social misfits, political opponents, or others.'

With the 'death squad' activity now confirmed by the Iraqi government, the phrase is moving out of the realms of 'euphemism' (as the ABC described it) towards becoming either another very ugly stain on the front pages - or a truth too difficult to look at, to speak of.

Item posted by AutoEditor at 12:00 pm ::