Iraq Confronts Evil Blackwater

It is one of many sins in the long list of crimes against humanity that Bush has committed in his illegal war. The use of private mercenary forces that have no accountablity for the people they kill or harm is one of the more horrendous aspects of Bush's criminality.

Finally, it looks like Iraq is doing something about groups like Blackwater. It is a sad state of affairs that a country that barely has it together has to do this for us:

What happens to private contractors who kill Iraqis? Maybe nothing

Blackwater USA employees are accused of killing several civilians, but there might not be anyone with the authority to prosecute them.

By Alex Koppelman and Mark Benjamin

An incident this past weekend in which employees of Blackwater USA, a private security firm that has become controversial for its extensive role in the war in Iraq, allegedly opened fire on and killed several Iraqis seems to be the last straw for Iraqi tolerance of the company. Iraqi government officials have promised action, including but not limited to the suspension or outright revocation of the company's license to operate in Iraq.

But pulling Blackwater's license may be all the Iraqis can do. Should any Iraqis ever seek redress for the deaths of the civilians in a criminal court, they will be out of luck. Because of an order promulgated by the Coalition Provisional Authority, the now-defunct American occupation government, there appears to be almost no chance that the contractors involved would be, or could be, successfully prosecuted in any court in Iraq. CPA Order 17 says private contractors working for the U.S. or coalition governments in Iraq are not subject to Iraqi law. Should any attempt be made to prosecute Blackwater in the United States, meanwhile, it's not clear what law, if any, applies.

Of course, not paying for crimes and escaping justice is all part of the Bush plan for himself, Scooter Libby, his administration, and Blackwater. If this world has any sense of justice, all of them will see the inside a jail cell for 20 years or more.

Japan Continues To Lie About Sex Slaves

Japan is really making me irate with this:

Japan Finds No Evidence of WWII Sex Slavery

The Japanese government has found no evidence that the military or the government forced women to work in World War II military brothels, the Cabinet said in a statement to a lawmaker Friday.

The declaration coincided with moves by conservative lawmakers to investigate the issue and soften a 1993 government apology for pressing thousands of woman to work as prostitutes for Japanese soldiers in Asia.

Seriously, why don't they just come out and say that World War II never happened? If they are going to deny one historical fact about WWII, then they might as well deny the whole thing.

Why don't they just deny the attack on Pearl Harbor or the rape and slaughter of the people of Nanking or Unit 731? Denying any one of those events would be just as ridiculous.

Where is Japan's sense of respect and decency? Where is their sense of honor? Japan's government is like a little child who lies to cover up something the child did that he knew was wrong when he did it and doesn't want anyone to know what he did. In doing that, they are making the horror of their crimes worse. If they had any decency, honor, or respect they would own up to their crimes, apologize, and try to make some restitution. Instead, they commit these disgraceful acts of denial.

Could you imagine if Germany's government denied the Holocaust or if the U.S. government denied the enslavement of Africans? There would be such enormous outrage and a strong uproar outside and inside their countries that such governments would be quickly replaced. Why isn't this happening in Japan?

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe must resign, and any members of Japan's government who supports the denial of Japan's history of sex slavery must also resign. Japan's citizens must demand their resignations if they want to restore their country's humanity.

I realize that there probably are not a lot of Japanese people who will read this, but I refuse to be silent when I see this sort of injustice. We are all on this planet together, so it is important that we work together to promote justice and equality. That is why we must speak out against things like genocide, racism, apartheid, terrorism, and war. We cannot be idle or silent when injustice occurs whether it is in Japan or Sudan or anywhere.