Liberal Road Blog Individual Freedom and Equality

Weapons of mass destruction. Freedom. Two arguments George Bush has been using to back the necessity of the Iraq war.

Well, no weapons of mass destruction have been found. With daily bomb attacks, kidnappings and political murders are Iraqis really freer than under Saddam?

In on sentence: the Iraq war has been a miserable failure.

Freedom remains the main argument for the war. However we can wonder how free Iraqis actually are with the increasing violence (bomb attacks, killings, kidnappings and so on) and frequent curfews.

Moreover the Abu Ghraib scandal (torture of prisoners) and other human rights abuses by the US army makes me ask one question: how does it make Iraqis freer? Sure, there were serious human right abuses under Saddam Hussein. Now the difference is that it’s not Saddam Hussein’s army or police committing them, it’s the US army as well as criminals.

The public opinion has finally shifted also in the United States: 68% of Americans disapprove of the way Bush is handling the Iraq war (source: CBS News). The public opinion begins to be reflected also in the political debate as a result of the US mid-term elections.

Bush has only bad options I have to say. Withdrawing from Iraq would leave the country insecure and would leave it in a civil war. The current situation isn’t good either as the army isn’t succeeding in stopping the violence.

The war shouldn’t have been started in the first place.

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Picture taken by dragon_mg (www.sxc.hu)

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I finally finished reading the book Putin’s Russia written by the killed writer Politkovskaya. A few facts to remind us all: Politkovskaya was a journalist who severely criticized Putin and she was shot dead in last October.

As I read her book “Putin’s Russia” one thing became pretty clear: she must have had many enemies. In her book she severely criticize Putin for the atrocities of the Chechen war and human right abuses. She also accuses the Russian court system for being completely corrupt (naming several judges who she thinks have been taking bribes). She even accuses some leading businessmen of serious crimes including bribery and using contract killers. All the accusations come with details.

That’s why I’m not at all surprised if she had many enemies who preferred to see her dead than alive. It’s very wrong that people are silenced by killing them. It’s a serious threat to the freedom of speech. The Freedom of speech is already in a bad condition in Russia as Putin’s administration has done a lot to silence criticism in the media.

Today the media has announced that the Russian police has arrested two suspects of the murder. However I think that we will never be sure who killed Politkovskaya as the Russian justice system is bad and malfunctioning.

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picture: A picture I took in Moscow in 2006.

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I wrote in an earlier post that a US officer (Watada) is risking jail for refusing to go to Iraq and for criticizing publicly the war. The court martial has ended for now in a mistrial as Watada hadn’t understood a document he had signed that was used against him in court (source: ABC News).

Will be interesting to follow the new trial that should take place in March. I’ll write about it on this blog:-)

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A US army officer who refused to go to Iraq is facing court-martial (source: CBS News). Ehren Watada risks up to four years in prison for refusing to fight in Iraq and criticizing the war publicly.

Watada claims that the war on Iraq is illegal according to US laws. He claims also that he has a legal right and obligation to refuse to follow unlawful orders (ie the order to fight in Iraq).

This is once again an example of a totally unacceptable violation of the individual freedom. Refusing to serve and saying what you want to are basical rights that everyone should always have.

The state doesn’t have the right to limit the individual freedom unless it is necessary for the freedom of others. And it’s not the case here.

The court case already seems to have started in an unfair way as the court refused to analyze the legality of the war. The trial is unfair, because if the war is illegal Watada hasn’t actually committed a crime. Now he doesn’t have the chance to prove his innocence.

I see this court case also as an attack on the freedom on speech: Watada can face a jail term for publicly questioning the legality of the war in Iraq.

It’s very unfair that an army officer wouldn’t have the right to the freedom of speech (which is guaranteed in the first amendment of the American constitution). I’m not a law specialist so anyone who has more information about the first amendment in this case is welcome to comment.

Watada’s courage to stand behind his convictions can only be admired.

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As I wrote in an earlier post the cost of doctor visits makes people avoid going to a doctor even when they would need it. More than 25% of Americans have skipped or postponed an important medical visit due to the costs According to a poll by MSN-Zogby.

The problem is that the poor are much more likely to skip health care due to the costs than the wealthier. The poor that have difficulties in financing a doctor visit are in a very unequal situation compared to wealthier persons.

Health care is a basic necessity and therefore it should be free and financed by the state. A bad health situation limits the choises you can do in life and in that way not being able to afford health care is actually an indirect limitation of your freedom.

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The news that a Russian hospital taped the mouths of small babies to stop them from crying
has created a scandal in Russia (see link for a picture). The hospital staff allegedly did it so that babies cry wouldn’t bother them as the hospital lacked staff.

This news raises the question of what rights babies and children should have. I personally believe that taping the mouth of babies is unacceptable. It is hard to understand why children shouldn’t have rights when adults have them.

If it is not okay to tape the mouth of an adult why would it be okay to tape the mouth of a baby?

I think it’s the same thing with corporal punishment of children by their parents (for example smacking): We are not allowed to hit an adult as a punishment even if he behaves in a disturbing way or does bad things so why should we be allowed to hit a child?

Unfortunately only 16 countries have laws forbidding completely the hitting of children. Sweden was the first country in 1979.

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I am fervant defendent of the freedom of speech and think that most European countries are still limiting too much the freedom of speach in some situations.

However there is one thing in which the freedom of speech laws in Europe and North America have completly missed the point: they don’t offer any privacy for famous people.

Tabloids and some magazines are constantly writing details about the private life of stars without their concent. And unfortunately most of the time they have the right to do so according to the law. However sometimes it leads to lawsuits like now that Paris Hilton is suing a website to stop them publishing personal items and information (source: article on CNN).

I think it’s sad that once you are famous you often no longer have the right to privacy. I think the media shouldn’t be allowed to tell the private life of famous people without their conscent.

Why do I support this? Because I believe everyone should have the right to live in privacy if they want to. Publishing details about their private life without their conscent is violating their rights to privacy. I believe it’s a sufficient reason to limit the freedom of expression (the individual freedom should be limited only if the action violates the rights of others and I think it’s the case here).

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As I surfed on the web this weekend I ran into this interesting video: Busted - The Citizen’s Guide to Surviving Police Encounters. It describes well the rights you have when confronting the police (applies only in the USA) and what you should do.

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The video has been made by Flex Your Rights.

I think it’s important that everyone has rights against the police for privacy reasons. The privacy should be limited only to a reasonable extent as necessary to guarantee the individual freedom of others (for ex. to reduce crimes that violates the individual freedom of others).

If the police was allowed to search anyone at any time for no special reason it would be a dangerous step toward a surveillance state (Big Brother -state at the end).

As laws are different in every country the information on the video applies only to the United States (but apparently not if you are suspected of terrorism as described in the Patriotic Act). Local laws of other countries should be checked.

I’ll make a small research about the rights in Sweden in similar situations when I have a bit more time. I’ll put a link here when I’ve done it.

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Today as I surfed around the web this news hit my eyes. The Chinese Communist party chief Hu Jintao has announced he wants to “purify” the Internet. Whatever it means in practice this time it may be again bad news for the freedom of speech in China.

The Internet is heavily censored in China. The Great Firewall, as it is called, blocks the access to many websites.

Many of the blocked websites contain information or comments criticizing the Chinese government. Also websites containing information about events the government wants to hide are censored (like the Tiananmen Square events in 1989).

This censorship is a serious violation of the individual freedom. Everyone should be free to say whatever they want to with only few restrictions (which are for example libel, threatening someone, encouraging someone to seriously harm another or privacy reasons).

I personally could confirm the censorship when I traveled in China in winter 2006. Many major foreign press websites were censored (as the BBC). I also tried to access websites about the Tiananmen Square events of 1989 and Falun Gong, without much success.

I however realized that accessing censored website was quite easy using foreign proxies. However some proxy websites were also blocked. I also suppose that using proxies in China to access censored websites can potentially lead to troubles with the police.

For more information about Internet in China I recommend the following page from Reporters Without Borders: link

It will be interesting to see if my website too will be censored in China.

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As I looked at the news I found the following news. A proposition (link in Swedish) backed by the School Minister of Sweden would allow teachers to confiscate mobile phones and mp3-players from disturbing students in Sweden. If accepted the new law would enter into force in fall 2007.

Honestly I have to say the proposition is a very bad idea. We should have more respect for the property of others. It’s true that according to the proposition the confiscated items would be given back at the end of the day, but still it’s a violation of property.

If the confiscated items were a security threat to others I would understand it better, but it’s not the case.

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