God Damn the International Criminal Court
Ali Baghdadi
I would like to borrow a famous phrase from a great Afro-American leader, the Reverend Jeremiah Wright whom I admire and respect greatly for his courage, straightforwardness , and truthfulness, “God damn”. President Barak Hussein Obama and the Queen of talk shows Oprah Winfrey attended his church, the Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago for over twenty years. The reverend married Barak and Michelle. He also baptized Malia and Sasha, the couple’s daughters. The man has been a roaring voice of the oppressed and down-trodden for his entire adult life.
Yes! I say “God damn”, for the first time and in writing. What could be more true and expressive than these two words, when one witnesses a miscarriage of justice in its ugliest form and magnitude, and he or she has no means to stop it?
God damn the “International Criminal Court” (ICC) that has issued an arrest warrant for President Omar Hassan al-Bashir for one of the most ridiculous and outright lies ever manufactured, “committing war crimes in Darfur”, Sudan’s western region, the size of France .
I visited Darfur, north and south. I freely interviewed men and women from all walks of life. Indeed, there is a tragedy. There are rebels who are financed, trained and equipped by the West, particularly Israel. The rebels are vicious and ruthless. They terrorize villagers in remote areas. They hit and run and hide in neighboring countries. Their innocent victims are mostly civilians.
Western interference is not motivated by fear or love for the people of Darfur. The population is totally Africans, blacks and Muslims. Death and destruction in Muslim, African, and Third World lands have never been one of Western powers’ concerns. It is oil, uranium, and copper, “stupid”. Darfur is rich in many minerals. Also, it is gum arabi, a plant which is used as an ingredient in processed food, including soft drinks.
God damn Western hypocrisy and double standards. The real war criminals and mass murderers are on the loose. The ICC has no plans or intentions to bring them to face justice.
God damn the employment of “justice” to achieve political objectives. The ICC is used as a frightening tool to blackmail and embezzle less fortunate nations in an effort to slow down their development and rob and rape their resources.
The court that issued an arrest warrant against Mr. al-Bashir, an innocent man dedicated to defending his country against outside interference, is telling us that it has no jurisdiction over the most wanted criminals on earth.
It has no authority to try former U.S. President George W. Bush, former U.S. Vice-President Dick Cheney, and former U.S. Secretary of Defense Dick Rumsfeld and their ruthless lieutenants.
Even the American people, who are constantly denied the truth and are brainwashed daily by the corporate media, have finally realized that the wars that those mass murderers waged against weak nations were based on absolute lies and deceit. Despite Zionist Jews having tight control over the flow of information, Americans, at last, recognize that these wars have been fought for Israel, an illegitimate and racist state which will eventually face the same destiny as the former apartheid state of South Africa. They do understand that their kids were shipped thousands of miles away from home to be killed or maimed for oil, to enrich multinational oil corporations. Sadly, 360,000 of our American boys and girls who had been trained to kill and destroy entire city neighborhoods and whole villages, returned home with brain damage. Officially acknowledged U.S. troops sacrificed in Iraq alone are 4,256 and rising.
Bush’s Iraqi war has almost wiped out seven thousand years of civilization. Iraq as a whole is literally in ruins. Civilian body count exceeds one and a half million. Three million women have become widows. Five million children are orphans. Six million individuals fled their homes. Unemployment is above 70%. No wonder, the only government ministry that escaped the American carpet bombing was the ministry of oil.
Though the ICC prosecutor received at least 350 complains documented by photos and videos, as well as witnesses representing international human rights organizations, the kangaroo court continues to insist that it has no power to issue warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Defense Minister Ehud Barack, and Foreign Minister Tizipi Livini and their generals.
Yet almost the entire world, including Jews, insists that these Israelis must be captured and charged of war crimes and crimes against humanity. Billions of people worldwide witnessed live the latest Israeli fireworks over tiny Gaza. They all saw the F-16 bombers, the Apache helicopters, the gunboats, artillery and cannons in action. They saw tens of thousands of tons of the deadliest and most destructive explosives, including white phosphorus bombs and other internationally forbidden weapons, raining over real people. The entire civilian infrastructure, homes, mosques, churches, schools, universities, hospitals, ambulances and even chicken farms, were “legitimate” targets. The human toll, during 23 days of constant bombardment, is almost 1,400 dead (including 500 children), and 6,000 injured or maimed.
The International Criminal Court is run and controlled by a gang of international criminals, who don’t give a damn about truth or justice; who have no concern for human life or dignity; who have a hidden but obvious agenda. Their only objective is to destabilize the Sudan and its government in an effort to serve the illegitimate and greedy interests of Washington, London, Paris and other European capitals.
Excuse my language! The prosecutor and the judges of this criminal court should take the warrant issued for the arrest of the Sudanese President, Omar Hassan al-Bashir, and shove it. Mr. al-Bashir is in good hands. The Sudanese are strong and proud people. No power on earth can force them to hand over their leader, a symbol of their honor and dignity, to foreign enemies.
In one of my visits to the Sudan, I joined President al-Bashir and his family for almost eight hours at his humble, tiny and sandy home in his poor village. I sat on a rusty iron bed that was converted to a sofa. Among Arab leaders, only Muammar al-Qathafi of Libya shares with al-Bashir this simple life style. He is kind and gentle. He hurts for Darfur. The only “crime” one may accuse him with is the fact that he took his oath of office seriously. He pledged to preserve the unity, sovereignty and independence of the Sudan; and to protect his country’s wealth and resources in accordance with the Sudanese constitution.
If he allows the Israeli flag to fly in Khartoum; if he agrees to an Israeli proposed “peace” canal that transfers waters from the Blue and White Nile rivers to Israel; if he ceases his support of the Palestinian resistance against Israeli occupation; if he takes a stand against Syria and Iran; if he joins the Arab “moderates” that succumbs to U.S. hegemony; or if he replaces the Chinese and Malaysian oil companies with American corporations, President Omar al-Bashir, will be “cleansed” over night by the West. Surely, he will be labeled as a “realist”, and will be hailed as a world hero and a champion of peace and democracy.
The irony is the fact that three and a half million Congolese men, women and children have been slaughtered in a civil war fueled by Western big business. The rape and massacre continue to this very day. Israel and its allies, who shed crocodile tears for the people of Darfur, have not uttered a word of condemnation. Western media have shown no interest of concern.
(arabjournl@aol.com Chicago)
