This Commentators Blog has spotlighted Nicholas Kristof's New York Times columns almost as often as those of the NYT's great David Brooks. Nicholas Kristof is a man of the liberal-left but his campaigning for the forgotten people of Darfur has been tireless. He uses his column of today (subscription required) to note the possibilities of a blossoming alliance between America's liberal Democrats and conservative Republicans on issues of international justice.
Mr Kristof was led to put pen to paper by the launch of Human Rights: Uncommon Leadership For Common Values. This is a paper just launched by joint authors Madeleine Albright, Clinton's Secretary of State, and Senator Sam Brownback, a socially conservative Republican Senator from Kansas. The document highlights a number of areas where liberals and conservatives with a heart for international justice might co-operate. The document highlights action against genocide, against human trafficking and in favour of religious freedom.
The left-of-centre Mr Kristof argues that George W Bush has already been leading the charge on some of these international justice issues:
"President Bush has almost tripled actual spending on overseas development assistance to $19 billion last year, compared with its trough under President Clinton of less than $7 billion in 1997, according to O.E.C.D. figures... Pushed by conservative Christians, Mr. Bush is also doing more to fight both AIDS and sex trafficking than any of his predecessors did. Foreign governments are learning that the U.S. now takes the slavery of 13-year-old girls almost as seriously as the pirating of American movies, and that's a step forward.""
A recent issue of First Things noted how America's religious conservatives had led George W Bush to take Sudan's civil war and other related issues seriously (although, pointedly, it regretted failures in Darfur).
Mr Kristof hopes that there will be more opportunities for such bipartisan co-operation:
"Another area ripe for cooperation would be safe maternity abroad. For all the battles over abortion and condoms, both sides can agree that half a million women shouldn't be dying unnecessarily in childbirth each year around the world, when modest investments can save their lives. Domestically, the obvious issue is prisons, the nastiest places in America. A bipartisan coalition won a landmark law against prison rape in 2003, with evangelical leaders standing side by side with Ted Kennedy at the signing ceremony. The next step is the Second Chance Act, which aims to reduce recidivism by easing the adjustment from prisons into society. It stands a real chance of getting through this Congress."
Of the two candidates for the Tory leadership David Cameron appears to have the most progressive international agenda. My favourite soundbite of the campaign came on the day he launched his campaign:
"And when the Conservative Party talks about foreign affairs it can't just be Gibraltar and Zimbabwe. We have go to show as much passion about Darfur and the millions of people living on less than a dollar a day in sub-Saharan African who are getting poorer while we are getting richer."
I'd like, of course, to know how his "passion" for the people of Darfur would translate into action but at least the "passion" provides a good starting point. The Albright-Brownback document and Liam Fox's human rights committee should be used to move the whole commitment forward.
Liam Fox's human rights committee should look into the Bush's administration's torture of terrorism suspects.
The Washington Post reported recently that the CIA operates a network of secret prisons in eight countries including Thailand, Afghanistan, Cuba, and several countries in Eastern Europe. These secret prisons were established four years ago to hold al Qaeda suspects.
The reason for the CIA setting up secret prisons in other countries is because it is illegal for the government to hold prisoners in such isolation in secret prisons in the U.S., according to former intelligence officials.
CIA interrogators are allowed to use approved "Enhanced Interrogation Techniques", which include some techniques that are illegal under U.S. military law and under the U.N. Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. One of the approved tactics is "waterboarding", in which a prisoner is made to believe he or she is drowning.
For more stories on the Bush administration's human rights abuses, type "extraordinary rendition" in a google research. The stories are truly appalling. An American friend, who used to be a Reagan speechwriter said "it makes you ashamed to be an American never mind a Republican".
One can only hope that those responsible will be brought to justice.
Posted by: Selsdon Man | November 06, 2005 at 16:09
"And when the Conservative Party talks about foreign affairs it can't just be Gibraltar and Zimbabwe. We have go to show as much passion about Darfur and the millions of people living on less than a dollar a day in sub-Saharan African who are getting poorer while we are getting richer."
Can someone please tell Mr Cameron that Zimbabwe is in sub-Saharan Africa?
Posted by: James Hellyer | November 07, 2005 at 10:51