Thursday, February 24, 2005

Harry Belafonte Savages Rumsfeld

Just as Germany and the US were wrapping up President Bush´s amicable visit, Harry Belafonte weighs in with a personal appeal to arrest and try Donald Rumsfeld for war crimes.

"As you know," he informs the German justice authorities, "I have been working for peace and freedom for a long time."

In light of this, he urges the immediate arrest of Donald Rumsfeld.

Were "Pinochet scams" of this sort to become accepted practice, all diplomatic intercourse between countries would soon grind to a halt, as their jails filled up with tit-for-tat "suspects". Right-minded, left-leaning celebrities like Harry, Bono, Richard Gere and Sting would have a field day, scavenging the globe for fresh victims to persecute with their pompous, self-regarding twaddle.

There is, of course, something highly attractive in this vision of politicians behind bars. Normally, this blog would support any move to cage them all, no matter how self-indulgent or foolish the justification might be. Anything for a laugh at politicians' expense, we say.

But Harry Belafonte has made the mistake of implying that Rumsfeld's arrest would bring peace and freedom to the world. I hate to say it, Harry, but it wouldn't do anything to foster the noble cause of peace - quite the reverse - it would just bring out a rash of tiresome Teutonic schadenfreude, and of course dollops of excellent publicity for whatever is the Belafonte Cause of the Week.
''Gegen Rumsfeld ermitteln!'' - sueddeutsche.de - Ausland

No comments: