By Donald V. Watkins
©Copyrighted and Published on November 2, 2018
Under heavy criticism from retired military officers, President Donald Trump today walked back his authorization for U.S. soldiers to shoot rock-throwing migrants at the Southern border.
Trump, who does not know when he is lying or telling the truth, now says he did not use the word “shoot” when describing how soldiers would react to rock-throwing migrants at the border. Of course, Trump’s videotaped interview from Thursday contradicts him on this point.
Lt. Col. Ralph Peters had this to say about Trump’s authorization to shoot migrants. “I want to take the president of the United States seriously, but he manages to be an embarrassing fool, an insidious menace. He's the antithesis of the America that I and my military comrades meant to defend, if necessary, with our lives. He's an un-American American president."
I agree with this assessment.
What is so frightening about this situation is the fact that so many Republican politicians, voters, and so-called Evangelical Christians were prepared to support Trump's willingness to slaughter migrants for throwing rocks at heavily armed American soldiers. The mass murder of rock-throwers was apparently an acceptable form of border control for Trump's supporters.
As a civilized society, how can we condemn mass murder by deranged shooters in our schools, work places, movie theaters, churches, mosques, and synagogues when we are willing to permit U.S. soldiers to commit similar atrocities against unarmed men, women, and children in the name of border control?
Why would a U.S. President, who dodged the draft during the Vietnam War, lead us into a modern-day version of the “Mỹ Lai Massacre?” Why is he so eager to kill vulnerable migrants of color in a televised confrontation at the border where rocks and stones are matched against military grade weapons, battle gear, and armored vehicles.
Finally, where is Donald Trump’s rage at the Saudi Arabian officials who were allowed to come in and out of the U.S. at will, who murdered Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi last month, who dismembered Khashoggi’s body, and who dissolved Khashoggi’s dismembered body in acid. If peaceful Central migrants of color are labeled as “gang members”, “terrorists”, “thugs” and “drug dealers” (as claimed by Trump with absolutely no proof), then how does the President characterize the 15 Saudi murderers who butchered Jamal Khashoggi (as officially admitted by the Saudi Kingdom and first reported by the Turkey government)?
PHOTO: Screenshot of NBC news report on President Donald Trump's denial of his shoot-to-kill authorization.
Migrant or Refugee?
The difference in how an alien is allowed to be treated by the US and the Trump administration under the 1951 UN Convention of which the US was a signatory is whether or not they are a bona fide refugee.
A refugee, according to the Convention, is someone who is unable or unwilling to return to their country of origin owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion.
Finally, the Convention lays down basic minimum standards for the treatment of refugees, without prejudice to States granting more favourable treatment. Such rights include access to the courts, to primary education, to work, an…
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