The Bush administration’s abuse of power generated opposition across the political spectrum, although mainstream criticism has focused almost exclusively on the methods he employed instead of the objectives he sought to achieve. This limited criticism has prevented the broader context of the previous administration’s policies from entering the debate when the insight offered by the historical record reveals precedents for many of the apparent violations of human rights and international law. While a thorough investigation of the post-11 September security and military policies is indeed appropriate, initiatives to repair the damage wrought by these policy changes should also address the failures in the civic infrastructure that allowed officials to commit war crimes with impunity. Attempts to protect human rights and respect for international law in the United States should address the immediate suffering of persons harmed by official policies, the culpability of the persons responsible for both immediate and past violations of international and domestic law, and the failures in the political establishment and public policy that have perpetuated a disregard for human rights and international law throughout multiple administrations. We have attempted to identify specific issues that must be addressed in each of these three areas, whom the most appropriate parties to address them are, and the minimum changes required in government legislation and operation to ensure a reasonable level of protection against further abuses of military or economic power. Many of the reforms proposed herein are unlikely to occur while powerful corporations control public policy and the mainstream media. That these reforms will be difficult to enact, however, does not bear on their importance. The more pressing issue is what the government’s resistance to human rights reforms implies about the role of democracy in the US government. The framework we present obviates the need for structural reform of political and economic policies as it outlines the changes to human rights and foreign policy that are needed to ensure that the protection of human rights becomes and remains a priority in the US government.

Proceed to the framework

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