bubosquared | I seem to have misplaced my faith in the human race.

(Disclaimish note: Below rant is targeted towards Bush and his puppet masters, not the USAian people themselves. I do know better than to hold a country responsible for their leaders.)

I am seething with righteous fury. I have never been this fucking angry in my life.

It's no secret that I have a hate-hate relationship George Bush Jr. I seriously cannot stand the fucker. I was perfectly willing to not hold the entire election debacle against him, but ever since assuming the position (and all puns are more definitely intended here) as President of the USA, he hasn't managed to make a single important decision about international politics that did not piss me off mightily.

First there was the incident where he insisted on leaving nukes at the American military base in Kleine Brogel, Belgium. Okay, fine, whatever. For reasons I still don't get or agree with, it is USA soil, and if they want to store enough nukes there to blow up my entire country, surely that's their business.

Then there was the Kyoto protocol, which pissed me off a lot more, because hi, this affects the whole of the world, several generations into the future, but well, I guess the economy comes first.

But what Bush (and/or whoever is pulling his strings) is doing with the International Criminal Court is unforgivable. And trust me when I say that I don't go throwing that word around lightly.

We are talking here about an international court that "will investigate and bring to justice individuals who commit the most serious violations of international humanitarian law, namely war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide, when countries cannot or will not prosecute the crimes themselves. " (USA for ICC)

Sounds like a worthwhile thing, right? Well, apparently not everyone in the Bush administration thinks so, because not only did Bush unsign the goddamn Treaty of Rome (which established the ICC), the US government is also requesting immunity from the ICC when on peacekeeping missions.

I really wish I could be calm and collected and to the point about this, but I really can't. Because it escapes me why anyone would do things like this and then be surprised that the world's public opinion of the USA isn't much. I'm sorry, you just asked to be exempts from having to respect basic human rights. And you're wondering where your PR problem lies?

And what do I read in the paper this morning? "Bush has signed a law which enables the USA to use any means necessary to free US citizens from the ICC jail." I just. There are no words. None.

I'm not usually one to get this angry about politics, and if I am I usually don't let it shine through when I vent my opinion, but in this case I have to choose between righteous fury and deadly fear, and well, it's not that hard a choice. Because the USA, no matter how much I wish they weren't, are the most powerful nation in the world right now, militarily speaking, and apparently certain people at the top believe that makes them god, or at least above the law.

And the most frightening thing is, they may very well be right.<p