Obama at the UN: Fiat justitia, et pereat mundus

Voice of Russia
September 26, 2012

Barack Obama: Let there be justice even if the world perishes
Boris Volkhonsky

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For the US, the outbreak of violence is indeed a good excuse for further military buildup in the Middle East – in full accordance with the president’s logic, “if the strongest weapon against hateful speech is more speech, then the strongest weapon against violence is more violence.”

[O]ne may ask the US president what exactly he meant by saying that “Americans have fought and died around the globe to protect the right of all people to express their views.” Did he mean scores of thousands of Iraqis and Afghans killed as a result of US military invasion, or thousands of Pakistani civilians killed in drone strikes?…And where else can we expect a new stage of the “fight to protect the right of all people to express their views”? Syria, Iran, China, or wherever?

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US President Barack Obama’s speech at the UN General Assembly on Tuesday quite naturally attracted global attention. The central part of it was dedicated to the infamous film “Innocence of Muslims” and the wave of outrage that was sparked by it.

The US President made a bow to Muslims’ feelings by calling the video “crude and disgusting”, but then pounced upon those who expressed their outrage all across the Muslim world.

He vehemently rejected all attempts aimed at forcing the US government to ban the blasphemous film, stating that “the strongest weapon against hateful speech is not repression, it is more speech” and putting the freedom of expression guaranteed by the First Amendment as the highest principle of the US policy.

“Americans have fought and died around the globe to protect the right of all people to express their views — even views that we disagree with,” said the president and added that “efforts to restrict speech can become a tool to silence critics or oppress minorities.”

Too much has been said that such rhetoric really puts the cart before the horse and that by doing so the proponents of “freedom of expression” really confuse the symptoms with the deeper reason. For the US, the outbreak of violence is indeed a good excuse for further military buildup in the Middle East – in full accordance with the president’s logic, “if the strongest weapon against hateful speech is more speech, then the strongest weapon against violence is more violence.”

Also, one may ask the US president what exactly he meant by saying that “Americans have fought and died around the globe to protect the right of all people to express their views.” Did he mean scores of thousands of Iraqis and Afghans killed as a result of US military invasion, or thousands of Pakistani civilians killed in drone strikes? And what about the US enthusiastic inspiration of and participation in the “Arab spring” which eventually backfired against Americans themselves? And where else can we expect a new stage of the “fight to protect the right of all people to express their views”? Syria, Iran, China, or wherever?

“We will bring justice to those who harm our citizens and our friends,” said Mr. Obama at the UN. But what about those who instigate the wave resulting in harm? On that, the US president seems to be unshakable – free speech will not be curbed.

Naturally, Barack Obama’s voice was not the only one heard at the UN. As reported by Reuters, Pakistan’s president Asif Ali Zardari said that “the international community must not become a silent observer and should criminalize such acts that destroy the peace of the world and endanger the world security by misusing freedom of expression.” Egypt’s new president, Mohamed Mursi, said freedom of expression carried with it responsibilities, and Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, president of the world’s most-populous Muslim-majority nation, Indonesia, called for a binding international treaty to “prevent incitement to hostility or violence based on religions or beliefs.”

Indeed, time has come to realize that words can at times be even more dangerous that weapons of mass destruction because they can set huge masses of people in motion, and some kind of a non-proliferation treaty is drastically needed.

Funnily enough, against this background of international disagreement, the US president recently received support from another ardent supporter of sacrilege in disguise of “freedom of expression”, the notorious singer Louise Ciccone blasphemously calling herself “Madonna”. Performing on Monday night in Washington she said that “we have a black Muslim in the White House” and called on the audience to vote for Obama.

Her ignorance and lechery are too well known and have been best characterized by Russia’s vice premier Dmitri Rogozin on Twitter.

What is more important is the obstinacy with which the US president (definitely not being a Muslim) is defending the radical atheist liberal policy line. It has already led to tragedies for the Muslim world and the US itself, but it seems that in standing up for unlimited freedom of expression and promising to “bring justice” to all those who disagree, Barack Obama is of an opinion that “Fiat justitia, et pereat mundus” (Let there be justice, though the world perish).