Clinton says Syria must do what we say, not what we do...

according to this article from reuters, madam secretary is giving the syrians the what-for over their treatment of protesters, as well as ill-treatment of detainees:

(Reuters) - Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Wednesday condemned violence in Syria and said the Syrian government must stop the arbitrary arrest, detention and torture of prisoners.

it's the same-old, same-old, where you mustn't do what we do -- but heed our moral lecturing, since we've appointed ourselves as moral arbiters. (just last month, the chinese government told the US to bugger off on the sanctimoniousness, by the way.)

coincidentally, we learned just yesterday that the US government is moving pfc. bradley manning, the great american hero who's suspected in being the source of many wikileaks revelations about US haughtiness and duplicity on the world stage, being moved from one concentration camp to another.

i can't speak to the specifics of manning's new digs at the army facility at leavenworth, kansas, but the government has it in for that boy, no matter where he is ensconced. the navy brig, here in virginia, has done all it can to humiliate and torment this brave man, and now the government appears to feel that novel measures are called for.

the US military has the best minds in the psychological torture business on the payroll, drawing on sources as disparate as the old russian KGB humanitarians to the israelis who take sadistic enjoyment in tormenting their arab charges, to our own, home-grown experts, forged in the crucible at guantanamo, bagram air base and assorted CIA "black sites" in eastern europe.

manning is but one in a long line of US detainees, both alive and missing (presumed dead), that ms. clinton is obviously not thinking about as she upbraids the syrian authorities for their mistreatment of prisoners. she's no doubt having a senior moment -- or a brain fart -- not to recall that syria happens to be among the sites the US would render suspects in the "war on terror" for their assured efficiency in extracting confessions using the most effective techniques of cruelty and depravity.

madame secretary, tear down that mask of unctuous piety, and get serious about getting your own house in order, before you set out trying to remake the world in our image... what a tragedy that would be!