Through a classified Pentagon training program known as "Project X," the lessons of Operation Phoenix from the 1960s were passed on to Third World armies, especially in Latin America allegedly giving a green light to some of the "dirty wars" that swept the region in the following decades. [For details, see Neck Deep: The Disastrous Presidency of George W. Bush.]
Bush's global strategy also has similarities to "Operation Condor" in which South American right-wing military regimes in the 1970s sent assassins on cross-border operations to eliminate "subversives."
Despite behind-the-scenes support for some of these Latin American "death squads," the U.S. government presented itself as the great defender of human rights and criticized repressive countries that engaged in extrajudicial killings and arbitrary detentions.
That gap between American rhetoric and reality widened after 9/11 as Bush waged his "war on terror," while continuing to impress the American news media with pretty words about his commitment to human rights - as occurred in his address to the United Nations on Sept. 25.
Under Bush's remarkable double standards, he has taken the position that he can override both international law and the U.S. Constitution in deciding who gets basic human rights and who doesn't. He sees himself as the final judge of whether people he deems "bad guys" should live or die, or face indefinite imprisonment and even torture.
Effective Immunity
While such actions by other leaders might provoke demands for an international war-crimes tribunal, there would appear to be no likelihood of that in this case since the offending nation is the United States. Given its "superpower" status, the United States and its senior leadership are effectively beyond the reach of international law.
However, even if the Bush administration can expect a real-politik immunity from a war-crimes trial, the brutal tactics of the "global war on terror" - as well as in Iraq and Afghanistan - continue to alienate the Muslim world and undermine much of Bush's geopolitical strategy.
The ugly image of Americans killing unarmed Iraqis also helps explain the growing hostility of Iraqis toward the presence of U.S. troops.
While the Bush administration has touted the supposed improved security created by the "surge" of additional U.S. troops into Iraq, a major poll found Iraqis increasingly object to the American occupation.
A survey of more than 2,000 Iraqis by the BBC, ABC News and the Japanese news agency, NHK, discovered mounting opposition to the U.S. occupation and increasing blame put on American forces for Iraq's security problems.
Eighty-five percent of those polled said they had little or no confidence in American and British occupation forces, up from 82 percent in February, when the "surge" began. Only 18 percent said they thought the coalition forces had done a good job, down from 24 percent in February. Forty-seven percent said occupying forces should leave now, up from 35 percent.
The number of Iraqis who feel the U.S. invasion was wrong also jumped 10 percentage points to 63 percent in August compared to 53 percent in February. The new survey found 57 percent of Iraqis supporting attacks on U.S. troops, up from 51 percent in February and 17 percent in 2004.
As for the surge itself, 70 percent said it had made the security situation worse with only 18 percent citing any improvement.
Regarding social and economic conditions, the poll also revealed a dismal outlook:
Only 8 percent of Iraqis now rate their supply of electricity as good, down from 46 percent in 2005. Only 25 percent were satisfied with the availability of clean water compared to 58 percent two years ago, helping to explain the outbreak of cholera from northern Iraq to Baghdad.
