After discovering that much of the WMD evidence had been fabricated, and there was no link between Hussein and Al Quaeda, George Bush announced that he had invaded Iraq to get rid of a brutal dictator who was part of an axis of evil. It’s turned out badly, but I don’t think he should let that put him off – this world’s got some bad people in it and we could sure do with a sheriff to sort them out.
But our lawman is new at this game, so I’d like to see if I can give him a few tips, because after that Iraq business it’s not going to be enough just to flash his badge and wave his six-shooter in the air. People are starting to talk him down, but he can do it – and if he stops beating people up in the cells, and starts cracking down on some of the career outlaws, then he can make that badge mean something.
Who are the guys in the black hats? Sheriff George is keen to get a posse together and go after Ahmadinejad, but I’d like to mention a few others. So here’s my most wanted list:
- Omar al-Bashir, Sudan: Using the army and Janjaweed militias to drive 3 million Darfuris from their homes into camps and carry out a campaign of murder, rape, and harassment which has left 200 thousand dead and three million displaced.
- Hu Jintao, China: As many as 300 thousand people are held without charge in lao gai concentration camps. Less than 5% of criminal trials include witnesses for the defence, and yet there is a 99.7% conviction rate. Falun Gong members are locked up for practising their religion. Genocidal policies in Tibet and Uighur territories. Censorship. Possibility that lao gai inmates are used to supply forced organ donation.
- Indonesia: The army (TNI) engages in widespread executions, torture, beatings, as well as racketeering, corruption, illegal logging, and other practices with almost complete impunity. Press access to Papua and Aceh is limited. 700 thousand child workers endure long hours and sometimes physical and sexual abuse in conditions amounting to slavery.
- Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe: Evicted of 700k people from their homes, took over white owned farms causing major disruption to food production and consequent starvation, and blocked aid from entering the country.
It’s easy to make a joke out of this, especially when you’ve got someone riding around on their high horse one day talking about how we should put a stop to the evil Iranians because they might build a bomb in the next five or ten years, but then the next day he’s shaking hands with Number 2 on my most wanted list. I’m being flippant, but I think the matter needs some serious consideration: you can certainly argue that crazy guys with a bad attitude towards their neighbours should not be allowed to get the bomb but if you want to say we should do something about the horrible things some governments do to their people (and I definitely think we should), then lets line these people up in some sort of order. It’s no good saying we have a responsibility to stop one evil genocidaire but trade and the free market will stop another one.
Nor does it have to be a matter of an Iraq style invasion, tanks and all. Countries like Sudan and Zimbabwe are either failed states or close to it. Pressure, determination, military presence, and relief operations are likely to be enough to bring about better behaviour. Once he’s got a bit of credibility with the Sheriff badge, our new lawman is likely to be able to put on a couple of deputies, and even call on the townspeople to stand up to China and Indonesia. A worldwide campaign of condemnation, trade and loans sanctions might work better against Indonesia than China, but if he gets serious about it and keeps the pressure on, our Sheriff might create a climate where people think pretty hard before they break the law ’round these parts.