Demagogue

Not Dick Cheney apparently

Vice President Dick Cheney said Monday he was offended by Amnesty International's condemnation of the United States for what it called "serious human rights violations" at Guantanamo Bay.

"For Amnesty International to suggest that somehow the United States is a violator of human rights, I frankly just don't take them seriously," he said in an interview that aired Monday night on CNN's "Larry King Live."

Of course, when they were making the case for war in Iraq, the White House couldn't stop citing Amnesty International's work

Saddam Hussein's Repression of the Iraqi People

Amnesty International reported that, in October 2000, the Iraqi Government executed dozens of women accused of prostitution.

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Iraqi security agents reportedly decapitated numerous women and men in front of their family members. According to Amnesty International, the victims' heads were displayed in front of their homes for several days.

A Decade of Deception and Defiance

In August 2001 Amnesty International released a report entitled Iraq -- Systematic Torture of Political Prisoners, which detailed the systematic and routine use of torture against suspected political opponents and, occasionally, other prisoners. Amnesty International also reports "Detainees have also been threatened with bringing in a female relative, especially the wife or the mother, and raping her in front of the detainee. Some of these threats have been carried out."

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Amnesty International reported that Iraq has the world's worst record for numbers of persons who have disappeared or remain unaccounted for.

Life Under Saddam Hussein

According to a 2001 Amnesty International report, "victims of torture in Iraq are subjected to a wide range of forms of torture, including the gouging out of eyes, severe beatings and electric shocks... some victims have died as a result and many have been left with permanent physical and psychological damage."

Tales of Saddam's Brutality

"Beth Ann Toupin, an Iraq specialist with Amnesty International, said it is still early to know the magnitude of rights abuses under Saddam. 'There's probably much more to be found,' she said, noting that hidden prisons may be discovered. 'And what's new to us is that now people care.'"

AI was credible enough to help bolster the case for war in Iraq but now that they are criticizing the US, Cheney just doesn't take them seriously.

Why am I not surprised?