Manufactured enemies
Crimes against humanity that we are witness to in our day can roughly be divided into three categories. Crimes which are not qualified as such, not punished and not judicially processed. Crimes which, in contrary, are qualified as such, punished and processed in some form or another, but judicially is not quite the term that seems to fit the description. And, finally, crimes against humanity which are completely disregarded by everyone except those they are perpetrated against, given that they are not committed within the interest sphere of any one power.
The justification for the first type of crime usually lies in the second type. They are often of a much larger scale than the second and the rational for them, more precisely, excuse given, is self defense.
Take the example of 9/11. Approximately 3000 people were killed in a day in the most horrifying way imaginable while they were quietly getting on with business in their offices. This crime was qualified by the entire world (except the maniacs who committed it) as a crime against humanity. Punishment followed and its perpetrators are still being processed.
The punishment or response was the raising to the ground of two countries. The BBC reported several days ago that there are 700.000 widows in Iraq. In Afghanistan no one seems to be too concerned with the death toll.
The laying of the ground for crimes against humanity for political purposes is a very simple process, repeated over and over in history, and can be termed as the production of the enemy. Once a group or government successfully produces a credible enemy there is no end in sight to the crimes it can commit. One doesn't have to look far back in history to understand this simple process very clearly. One just has to remember Hitler's "love affair" with the Jews. But, one also has to bear in mind, that the production of the enemy is a very dangerous process in as much as it can backfire. It has a tendency to rally entire groups of nations against its perpetrators.
It would seem that crimes against humanity can only successfully be prevented by those in whose name they are being committed, namely for whose alleged benefit and safety they are being carried out.
One would assume that the production of the enemy is such a simple process that a three year old might understand it and see through it. However, its effectiveness and power seem to lie precisely in its simplicity.
The justification for the first type of crime usually lies in the second type. They are often of a much larger scale than the second and the rational for them, more precisely, excuse given, is self defense.
Take the example of 9/11. Approximately 3000 people were killed in a day in the most horrifying way imaginable while they were quietly getting on with business in their offices. This crime was qualified by the entire world (except the maniacs who committed it) as a crime against humanity. Punishment followed and its perpetrators are still being processed.
The punishment or response was the raising to the ground of two countries. The BBC reported several days ago that there are 700.000 widows in Iraq. In Afghanistan no one seems to be too concerned with the death toll.
The laying of the ground for crimes against humanity for political purposes is a very simple process, repeated over and over in history, and can be termed as the production of the enemy. Once a group or government successfully produces a credible enemy there is no end in sight to the crimes it can commit. One doesn't have to look far back in history to understand this simple process very clearly. One just has to remember Hitler's "love affair" with the Jews. But, one also has to bear in mind, that the production of the enemy is a very dangerous process in as much as it can backfire. It has a tendency to rally entire groups of nations against its perpetrators.
It would seem that crimes against humanity can only successfully be prevented by those in whose name they are being committed, namely for whose alleged benefit and safety they are being carried out.
One would assume that the production of the enemy is such a simple process that a three year old might understand it and see through it. However, its effectiveness and power seem to lie precisely in its simplicity.
N.P.
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