US Human Rights Leadership?

Human rights is a subject of tantamount importance to me, because every time human rights are violated anymore, the more insecure those rights become everywhere, including here.

From the beginning, the Obama administration has unabashedly embraced the United Nations, pursuing a diplomatic strategy that reflects a belief that the world’s sole superpower can no longer afford to go it alone. But, as the U.N. General Assembly gets underway this week, human rights activists and political analysts say the new approach has undercut U.S. leadership on human rights issues

Rights advocates have been frustrated by several episodes. They say U.S. diplomats have sent mixed messages about their intention to reward — or punish — the Sudanese government for its alleged role in genocide in Darfur. The United States rejected a U.N. proposal to compel Israel and Hamas to conduct credible investigations into war crimes in the Gaza Strip. And the administration has pursued a low-profile approach to Sri Lanka, where a military offensive against rebels is believed to have killed thousands of civilians.

The administration continues to assert that "the United States is not going to preach its values and not going to impose its values," said Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch. "The problem is they are not American values — they are international values."… [emphasis added]

Inserted from <Washington Post>

I’m all for Obama’s notion that we not impose our own values on others.  The eight years of the Bush/GOP regime should certainly teach us that lesson.  This policy did not undercut US leadership in human rights.  We gave up that claim when Bush and the Republican Party made our nation a human rights pariah by shredding our Constitution at home and torture. rendition for torture, and an illegal preemptive war abroad.  Before we can claim leadership again, we must first represent our belief in human rights by example.  Nevertheless, we must stand up to denounce human rights violations everywhere, regardless of political expediency.  There must be no more favored nations whose abuses we sweep under the rug.  In this area, the Obama administration is moving much to slowly.  If we are to regain the respect and leadership we once had, Obama must represent change the world can believe in.