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Bush Tarnishes Medal of Freedom by Bestowing It on Uribe
Bush keeps outdoing himself on his way out the door.
On Tuesday, he gave the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Alvaro Uribe, the head of Colombia.
Uribe has had close ties with rightwing paramilitary squads. And his government is a notorious human rights abuser.
"In recent years there has been a substantial rise in the number of extrajudicial killings of civilians attributed to the Colombian Army," says Human Rights Watch.
"Army members apparently take civilians from their homes or workplaces, kill them, and then dress them up to claim they were combatants killed in action."
Colombia also has the dubious distinction of leading the world in the murders of trade unionists. More than 2,600 labor leaders have been slain down there in the last couple of decades, and more than 400 while Uribe has been president, according to Human Rights Watch.
Virtually none of the murderers have been brought to justice.
Bush's support for Colombia is typical of U.S. foreign policy. Bill Clinton before him lavished aid on the Colombian government, despite knowledge of that government's bloody hands.
"The CIA and senior U.S. diplomats were aware as early as 1994 that U.S.-backed Colombian security forces engaged in ‘death squad tactics,' cooperated with drug-running paramilitary groups, and encouraged a ‘body count syndrome,' " said the National Security Archive, which recently posted documents backing up this point.
"Personally, I have a hard time figuring out who is more audacious, President Bush for giving the human rights award, or President Uribe for receiving it," said Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch.
This is the same medal that Bill Clinton awarded to Nelson Mandela. (Bush previously gave the medal to former CIA director George Tenet and Paul Bremer, the bungling viceroy of Iraq.)
When he gave Uribe the award, Bush said, "President Uribe has reawakened the hopes of his countrymen and shown a model of leadership to a watching world. . . . The future will always be bright in a country that produces such men as President Alvaro Uribe."
One last Orwellian award, courtesy of our shameless President.
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12 Comments so far
Show AllGeorge Wanker Bush, through his connections in the Defense Department, secretly acquired a Congressional Medal of Honor. A real one. Yesterday, he slipped quietly into the Oval Office bathroom, locked the door and stood in front of the full length mirror. He was wearing his leather Navy G-1 aviator's jacket, the one with the oversize presidential patch on it, and solemnly hung the medal around his neck. He put on his best imitation of a stoic, heroic expression and saluted himself snappily. President George Wanker Bush, Winner of the Congressional Medal of Honor for actions above and beyond the call of duty during the battle of Falujah in which he rescued an entire platoon of Marines cut off from their main body and receiving murderous fire from 72 al Qaeda terrorists, all of whom President Bush killed in a one-man banzai charge against their position. Cue the Star Spangled Banner and run the flag slowly up the flagpole. And now the 21 gun salute. Fuckin' A! Mission Accomplished! And now he moves on to fight the Battle of Preston Hollow. Saddle up!
The corruption of everything and inversion of reality oozes onward. Amazing.
About 4 days left and there is still time to begin WWIII--by the way, where is the sneering Cheney and what is his miserable self up to?
Poet
George Bush tarnishes the Medal of Freedom every time he touches it or hands it out.
This repulsive, simian cretin has been a murderous killing machine, and a remorseless piece of human garbage thrust upon the world. The destruction he has wreaked is scattered over civilization's landscape for all to see.
Hence, why should anyone even pay attention to the list of goons and fellow killers and criminals this mafioso gangster "honors"?
Remember how this vile criminal "honored" one of the architects of 9-11, George Tenet? Remember how well that cretin was bought off?
Who will ever forget the non-stop parade of reprehensible war criminals, looters and sleazy profiteers that have run rampant in his atrocious "administration" these past 8 years? Wolfowitz, Rumsfeld, Powell, Perle, Feith, Condi, Yoo, Gonzo, Ashcroft, the religious hoodlums, the military organized killers, and on and on. What a list of unmatched human slime!
So, is it any surprise, or must it even bear discussion that a vicious crime-boss will reward his partners-in-crime for a job well done?
It makes perfect sense to me that the crime-boss is "rewarding" such reprehensible criminals as Blair, Howard and Uribe. Recall how this repulsive criminal Howard received preference for staying at Blair House (what an ironic name!) over the incoming P-E in preparation for receiving his disreputable reward. I am quite sure there will be rewards for Aznar and Berlusconi, too. In a lawless banana republic, any degree of criminality can go on without any accountability whatsoever.
I even had the stomach-churning experience of watching (thankfully with the mute button on) Cheri Blair laughing it up on one of the late evening talk-shows. Human beings truly will whore for money all the time.
Maybe GW Bush can give the Medal of Freedom to Charles Manson, or maybe to John Wayne Gacy and Jeffery Dahmer (posthumously), since he seems to be giving the award out to psychopaths like Uribe.
I say we give the medal a medal and retire it.
Thank God we are aty least retiring George Bush!
Uribe joins this select group of recipients:
Irving Kristol
Nancy Reagan
A. M. Rosenthal
Edward Teller
Norman Podhoretz
L. Paul Bremer III
Tommy R. Franks
George J. Tenet
Considering the vileness and depravity of this menagerie of monsters, I find it hard to believe that there's any base metal left to tarnish.
· Yr Obd't Servant
So Bush has bestowed custom dog tags on his lapdogs Blair, Howard and Uribe. At least the voters have neutered the first two. An award from this ignorant thug at the end of his 8 year crime spree is a mark of dishonor.
Alex
I can't believe I left out Blair and Howard! Thanks for rounding out the motley crew I listed.
· Yr Obd't Servant
Reminds me of the kids in the 1950's during the cowboy fad. They were selling plastic badges to go with your cowboy had and plastic six shooter. I bet he gives one to Barney, the family dog, before he leaves office.