-Caveat Lector- U.S. hypocrisy on state terrorism 22 June 2001 Gregory D. Johnsen http://metimes.com/2K1/issue2001-25/opin/us_hypocrisy_on.htm It took a little over one month for the United States to make a mockery of its own report on global terrorism. The State Department's 2000 Report on Global Terrorism singles out countries that are ostensibly state sponsors of terrorism. Now, with the ink barely dry on the document, America is engaging in the same activities it says the "states of concern" are participating in - aiding rebel groups. In the report, the U.S. government once again selected the 'gang of seven' as state sponsors of terrorism. Ranked number one was Iran, followed closely by Iraq, Sudan, Cuba, North Korea, Libya and Syria, a list that has remained unchanged since 1993. One of the major reasons Iran topped the list was its support for the Hizbullah in Lebanon. Washington has invested a great deal of diplomatic time trying to break up this alliance. Following Israel's withdrawal from Lebanon one year ago, the United States was able to convince Turkey to stop allowing Iran to cross its airspace to supply the Hizbullah. Iran had been forced to fly through Turkey because of the no-fly zones in Iraq's airspace. But less than one month after Washington explained its reasoning to the world, it allocated $3 million to Sudanese rebels fighting the government in Khartoum. One of the reasons spokesman Eric Hotmire gave for the aid was that the government in Khartoum regularly targets schools and hospitals in southern Sudan. While it is undoubtedly true that the government in Khartoum has hit civilian targets in southern Sudan, what gives Washington the right to grant money to these rebels while condemning Iran for doing the same thing? Israel occupied a swath of Lebanese territory under the guise of a self-proclaimed "security zone." This occupation was criticized by everyone from the United Nations to average Israelis. Yet at no time during Israel's occupation of Lebanon did America accuse Israel of being a state sponsor of terrorism: not when Israel bombed power stations in Beirut, far from the action of the Hizbullah in southern Lebanon and not even when evidence of the Israel-sponsored South Lebanese Army Khiam Jail came to light. The jail held suspected Hizbullah "terrorists" and subjected them to the latest in torture technology. Instead, year after year, the United States continues to label Iran a state sponsor of terrorism. If Iran is guilty of being a sponsor of terrorism, then, using the same criteria, the United States has no choice but to label itself a state sponsor of terrorism. The Hizbullah were fighting to remove Israel from Lebanon, just as now the southerners in Sudan are fighting to free themselves from the Islamic government in Khartoum. Both movements have opposed governments that terrorized them. If the United States can act as a sovereign nation and designate aid for a group that is being victimized, then isn't it Iran's right as a sovereign nation to pursue the same path without being punished for it? It is ironic that America, which adheres to the western tradition that derives from ancient Greece, seems in this case very much like the men who debated justice with Socrates. Their argument boiled down to: "It is just because I say it is just." Socrates demonstrated that this arbitrary sense of justice had no place in rational societies. It has been over 2,400 years since Socrates held his debates, yet the United States continues to insist on regurgitating the same tired arguments that Socrates faced. America is guilty of excitedly pointing out the splinter in Iran's eye, while completely ignoring the sizable timber in its own. The degree of hypocrisy in the U.S. report would be laughable if the parties weren't so in need of an honest broker. --------- Gregory D. 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