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Amnesty Int'l Reaches Out to Conservative Blogs on Torture

By Jeralyn, Section Media
Posted on Fri Mar 10, 2006 at 12:14:13 PM EST
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Amnesty International is making a smart move. They are trying to place their anti-torture ad on 100 conservative blogs through Blogads. Here's the numbers so far:

To date, 62 blogs have accepted the ad, 21 have outright rejected it and 17 have yet to decide to run it or not. In the spirit of the free flow of information, we would like to thank those bloggers who have agreed to run our ad.

A few of them weigh in here. Personally, I think it's sleazy for a blog to accept an ad and then mock and trash the advertiser, as Junkyard Dog and Right Wing News have done. I wouldn't mind a reasoned debate on the issues raised in the ad, but to make statements like "So click on the ad. Laugh at the page it links to. Amnesty International is a joke" and "The ad is a lame little connect-the-dots video they really didn't put much effort into" makes it seem like they are only into blogging for the ad money and willing to compromise their principles for financial gain.

Update: Atrios and Crooks and Liars disagree and see nothing wrong with mocking the ads.

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    Amnesty Int'l Reaches Out to Conservative Blogs on Torture | 15 comments (15 topical)
    Re: Amnesty Int'l Reaches Out to Conservative Blog (none / 0) (#1)
    by rigel on Fri Mar 10, 2006 at 12:45:50 PM EST
    conservatives willing to compromise their principles for financial gain? the hell you say.

    Re: Amnesty Int'l Reaches Out to Conservative Blog (none / 0) (#2)
    by aw on Fri Mar 10, 2006 at 01:11:31 PM EST
    Maybe, maybe, maybe the ads will actually reach someone and make them think? We can hope.

    Re: Amnesty Int'l Reaches Out to Conservative Blog (none / 0) (#3)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Fri Mar 10, 2006 at 01:20:15 PM EST
    'compromise their principles' hahahahahaha

    Re: Amnesty Int'l Reaches Out to Conservative Blog (none / 0) (#4)
    by eric on Fri Mar 10, 2006 at 01:35:40 PM EST
    From the Junkyard: Amnesty International used to be a great organization, dedicated to drawing attention to the very real human rights injustices that governments around the world commit against their own people every single day. In other words, Amnesty International was a good organization as long as they criticized other countries and not the US.

    Re: Amnesty Int'l Reaches Out to Conservative Blog (none / 0) (#5)
    by Andreas on Fri Mar 10, 2006 at 01:39:56 PM EST
    Some of those "conservative" websites seem to be published by outright fascists. It is a problem when Amnesty International gives money to such people.

    Re: Amnesty Int'l Reaches Out to Conservative Blog (none / 0) (#6)
    by Patrick on Fri Mar 10, 2006 at 01:50:29 PM EST
    So could Delay reelection committee buy ad space at Talkleft?

    Re: Amnesty Int'l Reaches Out to Conservative Blog (none / 0) (#7)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Fri Mar 10, 2006 at 01:51:38 PM EST
    This says it all:
    The practice of capturing people like Maher Arar and sending them back to their home countries to be interrogated, after we receive promises that they will not be mistreated or tortured, is called extraordinary rendition. Since the American court system is poorly equipped to deal with foreigners who are suspected of terrorist activities based on classified intelligence data and since sending them off to Gitmo can sometimes be a big political problem (In Arar's case, he is a Syrian AND Canadian citizen), extraordinary rendition seems like a very reasonable way to deal with the issue without having to compromise our security.
    So "Right Wing News" trusts Syria when they "promise" someone will not be tortured. Why are conservatives so trusting of governments that are our very own Department of State shows has a clear pattern of torture. Extraordinary rendition: it's not just a bad idea; it's against the law:
    Article 3 [of the Convention Against Torture: 1.) No State Party shall expel, return ("refouler") or extradite a person to another State where there are substantial grounds for believing that he would be in danger of being subjected to torture. 2.) For the purpose of determining whether there are such grounds, the competent authorities shall take into account all relevant considerations including, where applicable, the existence in the State concerned of a consistent pattern of gross, flagrant or mass violations of human rights.
    Why do the writers of Right Wing News have such contempt for the law?

    Re: Amnesty Int'l Reaches Out to Conservative Blog (none / 0) (#8)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Fri Mar 10, 2006 at 02:11:47 PM EST
    Note the implication- both from the U.S. gov't and the commenters at these linked sites- that naturalized citizens aren't really citizens. Arar isn't a dual citizen, he's Canadian, except in the eyes of the "never let you go" Syrians. This isn't the US warning 'forced dual' (is there a term for this?) citizens to avoid a country in case they get drafted- i.e. facing the reality of forced-dual citizens. This is the U.S. forcing citizens to be dual citizens against their stated choice. The U.S. gov't and these commenters should detail their thoughts on naturalization. If Canada deported a naturalized U.S. citizen to, say, North Korea or Iran based on their country of birth, not on their chosen citizenship, would the U.S. (and commenters) accept this? Are naturalized citizens truely citizens, in their view?

    Re: Amnesty Int'l Reaches Out to Conservative Blog (none / 0) (#9)
    by cpinva on Fri Mar 10, 2006 at 02:13:49 PM EST
    using the terms "conservatives" (in the current sense of the term) and "principles" in the same sentence creates an oxymoron.
    So could Delay reelection committee buy ad space at Talkleft?
    patrick, i kind of wish they would, i haven't had a really good laugh lately.

    Re: Amnesty Int'l Reaches Out to Conservative Blog (none / 0) (#10)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Fri Mar 10, 2006 at 03:40:48 PM EST
    kathryn, I think the answer to your question about an American being rendered to North Korea would be a matter of situational ethics for these "principled" conservatives. and jeralyn, is there a way to get a confirmed list of who has accepted, accepted and mocked, or refused Amnesty's ads? In the spirit of Atrios, making sure that we do indeed have these individuals on record as objectively pro-US torture.

    Re: Amnesty Int'l Reaches Out to Conservative Blog (none / 0) (#11)
    by Al on Fri Mar 10, 2006 at 04:00:20 PM EST
    Since the American court system is poorly equipped to deal with foreigners who are suspected of terrorist activities based on classified intelligence data...
    Whereas of course the Syrian court system is much better equipped for this. Never mind that Arar never saw the inside of an actual court during his stay in Syria. Honestly, do these people even stop to read what they write?

    Re: Amnesty Int'l Reaches Out to Conservative Blog (none / 0) (#12)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Fri Mar 10, 2006 at 04:06:53 PM EST
    Tom and all, Also, the US government's behavior doesn't differentiate between a Syrian-born Canadian who was adopted at age 6 months and an adult Syrian who fled to Canada. Even if those blogs' commenters thought that an *adult's* change of nationality doesn't count, will they at least worry that adopted citizens aren't really citizens? Do they have no family or friends who adopted kids from Romania, or from China? Do Romania and China now get permanent dibs on those adoptees?

    Re: Amnesty Int'l Reaches Out to Conservative Blog (none / 0) (#13)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Fri Mar 10, 2006 at 04:42:41 PM EST
    compromise WHAT principals?

    Re: Amnesty Int'l Reaches Out to Conservative Blog (none / 0) (#14)
    by scarshapedstar on Fri Mar 10, 2006 at 05:07:04 PM EST
    "So click on the ad. Laugh at the page it links to. Amnesty International is a joke"
    As opposed to the 101st Fighting Keyboarders, whose record of improving human rights is unmatched.

    Re: Amnesty Int'l Reaches Out to Conservative Blog (none / 0) (#15)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Fri Mar 10, 2006 at 07:10:45 PM EST
    They can mock Amnesty International all they want. People know what AI is about--protecting people from abuse by governments and hate groups. If people see some of the photos of torture, read about the children that are being raped by George Bush and Dirty Dick Cheney, then it will start to sink in. Nazis used to mock their victims, too.

    Amnesty Int'l Reaches Out to Conservative Blogs on Torture | 15 comments (15 topical)