"Do As I Do, Not As I Say Do" — U.S. Torture Chickens Come Home To Roost

Ronald Bailey | October 24, 2006

According to the Associated Press, the United Nations' special rapporteur on torture reports that other countries are now pointing to the United States when they are criticized for their treatment of prisoners. To wit:

Manfred Nowak, the U.N. special investigator on torture, said that when he criticizes governments for their questionable treatment of detainees, they respond by telling him that that if the United States does something, it must be all right. He would not name any countries except for Jordan.

"The United States has been the pioneer, if you wish, of human rights and is a country that has a high reputation in the world," Nowak told reporters. "Today, many other governments are kind of saying, 'But why are you criticizing us, we are not doing something different than what the United States is doing.'"

This sadly predictable outcome reported here.