Blame The Victims

International Policy In Action

Blaming the victim is the retort of the sickos and the mentally ill: "I couldn't help it, he made me do it".

It's a refrain shared by murderers and rapists, the false placing of cause and guilt on the victim as the instigator and person responsible for the crime.

In terms of nations, it's the justification for atrocity, war crime and the slaughter of innocents. Preparation, just in case they make us do it, is reason to pass repressive laws, cut off aid to those in desperate need and a means of government staying in power. Keep the population scared enough and they will welcome any tyranny in order to keep them safe.

Ultimately, the State uses such politics to develop nightmare chemical, biological and nuclear weapons, even if it means breaking international treaties and agreements in order to do so. The threat of terrorists getting such weapons is the excuse. Just such a scenario is taking place right now at Fort Detrick, USA:

Construction work has begun near Washington on a vast germ warfare laboratory intended to help protect the US against an attack with biological weapons.

The centre will produce and stockpile the world's most lethal bacteria and viruses, which is forbidden by the 1972 Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention.

source

Elsewhere, blaming the victims in the current Middle East conflict is the refrain used by Israel to justify the bombing of civilians: "the enemy are using them as human shields, so their deaths are not our fault."

Even when it comes to larger scale war crimes, Israel is seeking to blame the victims by saying that there must have been explosives beneath the building which collapsed after being bombed, killing civilians and a large number of children.

The international calls for an immediate ceasefire (ignored by Israel) also don't fit the victim at fault policy. The supporters of change in the Middle East are to set the stage by first getting a UN resolution that will disadvantage the victim before pressing for an end to the killing. When resistance to some aspect or unacceptable term appears, it will be possible to blame them for the continued breakdown.

In fact, blaming the victims is probably the device used as a pretext to start the conflict. Plan a campaign against Hezbollah/Iran/Syria in advance. Capture some Lebanese and imprison them. Mount a patrol as bait which crosses the border and is a tempting target, while continuing to inflame Arab tensions through attacks on Gaza.

Result: a justified context to use military force to bring about long-term change in the balance of power and influence.


A prediction:
Hezbollah will not accept terms set out in the coming UN resolution that will mean its demise, Israel will not give up the disputed lands or imprisoned Arabs, and the breakdown will provide justification for further incursions, war crimes and death.