Mladic and bin Laden

[gratuitous]

I read a short account about the apprehension of Ratko Mladic a day or two ago. Apparently, tipped off about his whereabouts, a group of police folks piled into four vehicles, went to the house they suspected Mladic was in (a residential neighborhood, other houses surrounding Mladic occupied by family members), and took him in. They went in the early morning, quietly, and grabbed him without much of a fuss. Mladic was carrying two side arms, but taken by surprise and his arresters speaking his language, handed over his weapons and went quietly. Mladic will soon be extradited to The Hague to answer the evidence against him for his crimes.

I compared and contrasted the methods used with the recent execution of Osama bin Laden, and drew some rather harsh conclusions about which countries in the world truly believe in the principles of liberty, freedom, and justice and the system we use to guarantee and administer them.

Happy Memorial Day.

[Mz Pip]

1. Big difference

Mladic's war was over, bin Laden's not so much.

[lunatica]

2. You're comparing apples and oranges

Bin Laden was in Pakistan where we don't have a police force that could just walk up to his house and ring the doorbell. That's just one of the differences. Mladic's crimes are within the purview of one country which police force arrested him while Bin Laden's are international and Pakistan wasn't helping find him. Both of them were wanted for crimes against humanity which is just about the only thing they had in common.

Though you won't find me arguing to defend our country's trashing of the rule of law. It's just that I think your comparison isn't really based on similarities.

[gratuitous]

3. And there are always reasons for the empire

But it's clear to me that the United States doesn't trust its institutions to administer the country and carry out the ideals we claim. Already, Europe is facing protests from Mladic partisans, just as the United States feared it might face from Al Qaeda adherents. Given the violence exhibited by the Serbians under Mladic, it's not out of the question that Europe will have to weather terrorist attacks, and they have decided that that's a price they're willing to pay (should it come) to uphold their ideals of justice.

The United States? Not so much. What a shameful legacy for this Memorial Day, and the lip service we love to pay those who went before, who we like to say paid the price or made the ultimate sacrifice for America and freedom.