Democracy and the rule of law

Re “Orders are orders,” Opinion, Aug. 8

Haim Watzman argues that “the rule of law is the foundation of democracy.” Perhaps as a citizen of Israel, which denies civil rights to half of the people living in the lands it controls, Watzman can be forgiven for having such a poor understanding of democracy. The foundation of democracy is the rule of the people. The rule of law is the foundation of tyranny. Israeli and U.S. soldiers who refuse to participate in their governments’ war crimes are continuing the proud lawbreaking tradition of democracy, as are the Palestinians and Iraqis who are slandered as “terrorists” for refusing to respect the “rule of law” of their brutal foreign occupiers.

Watzman failed to join this tradition when he chose to follow the criminal orders of his superiors in the Israeli military. Now he makes rationalizations about the “rule of law” in a disgusting attempt to clean his conscience.

Randy Childs

Alhambra