Adrian Hamilton défend la France plus que DSK

Adrian Hamilton défend la France plus que DSK

Dans un article du 19 mai 2011, le fameux commentateur de The Independent, Adrian Hamilton, défend encore plus la France que DSK, en défendant DSK par rapport au traitement qui lui est infligé actuellement à New York. Hamilton passe en revue, non seulement le cas DSK et les accusations contre lui, mais aussi les comportements français tels qu’ils sont dénoncés, particulièrement aux USA. Il y trouve beaucoup à redire, renvoyant implicitement à l’hypocrisie anglo-saxonne, particulièrement américaniste, en jugeant qu'on trouve des reproches similaires à faire aux comportements anglo-sacxons.

Hamilton estime que le traitement appliqué à DSK a essentiellement à voir avec le fait qu’il est Français, et donc s’adresse d’abord à la France d’une façon spécifique. Il permet indirectement et a contrario aussi bien qu'à bon compte de faire une vertu à l’épouvantable système judiciaire et carcéral US, et au système politique américaniste, structurellement corrompu. (L’habileté américaniste, dans ce cas, ayant été d’institutionnaliser et d’officialiser nombre de pratiques de corruption, au sens le plus large du terme, et cela dans un système de capitalisme intégral qui permet d’en faire le plus grand profit sans se trouver hors du conformisme légaliste qui gouverne le jugement général de la presse et des commentateurs).

«Dominique Strauss-Kahn is obviously guilty and thoroughly deserves his public humiliation in court and incarceration in the notorious Rikers Island jail in New York. What is more, according to US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, a replacement should now be appointed to fill his job as he is “not in a position to run” the International Monetary Fund which he heads.

»Only Mr Strauss-Kahn hasn't been tried for any of the sexual offences for which he has been charged, let alone found guilty. Humiliation and refusal of bail cannot be the “punishment” – for all the presumptions of accusing commentators – for crimes for which he must be deemed innocent until his case is heard by a court of law. […]

«No doubt the French are behind the times in their patriarchal attitudes to women and the chauvinistic behaviour of men – although my experience of America and Britain would not suggest that Anglo-Saxon men in power are that different. No doubt, too, we can congratulate ourselves on a press that is less inclined to turn a blind eye to such behaviour than in France – although, again, I'm not sure that the British and American press have too much to applaud themselves over when it comes to uncovering the serious misdeeds of the great and the good.

»It is easy to view the French objections to this treatment of one of their most distinguished public figures as the typical posturings of a country that can't come to terms with the thought that its leaders could behave badly. Over half of French people apparently still believe the charges are trumped up. But we in Britain weren't so happy when UK citizens were dragged off to Guantanamo without a trial or when the NatWest executives were extradited to face US courts in handcuffs.

»You can argue that this is just the American way. The US court system, and the glare of the cameras under which it operates, promotes a deliberate disgracing of the accused and the public revelation of every damning detail of a case before the court hears it. But there is something peculiarly demeaning about the manner in which Mr Strauss-Kahn in particular has been treated.

»There was no reason to refuse him bail. A man of his public profile was most unlikely to disappear beyond the law's reach. And, if that was the fear, then confiscate his passport. Nor was there any need to allow cameras in court to record his unshaven, hunted look or to reveal, with such evident glee, that he was now on suicide watch.

»Or, for that matter, what was the purpose in Timothy Geithner saying that he should be instantly displaced in his job other than to rub the man's nose in the dirt? If the IMF chief had had an accident, arrangements would have been made (as they have been) for someone to take his place until it became clear whether he would be returning.

»It's no different for someone facing a court case. To say otherwise, to argue that the post is too important to be sullied with a case as potentially shameful as this, is to assume that a public figure deserves less dignity than the ordinary accused – which is the impression that the US prosecution officials often give as they struggle to gain publicity for themselves.»

Finalement, Hamilton élatgit le débat et le rend essentiellement politique. Il estime que le traitement appliqué à DSK renvoie pour une bonne part à la mésentente politique fondamentale entre les USA et l’Europe (pas seulement la France, dans ce cas).

«Where Mr Strauss-Kahn's position does make a difference is in the political consequences of such treatment of a distinguished foreigner. The politics from the US side may be largely domestic in motivation – district attorneys are usually politicians on the make – but the French are bound to take this as a deliberate insult to their nation. The damage to the reputation of the country, it could be argued, was caused not by the New York courts but by the alleged actions of the accused himself. But the French are not entirely wrong in suspecting deliberate malice. There is an edge of biting back in an America that has felt itself diminished in the eyes of its allies as its enemies. The French have been a favourite object of belittling ever since they refused to join the invasion of Iraq.

»To that extent “l'affaire DSK” is bound to take its part in a steady erosion of US-European relations that has been going on during the last few years – over Afghanistan, Libya and economic policy. The US feels that the Europeans have pathetically failed to step up to the plate of international responsibility (all too true) while the Europeans feel that the Americans have too rapidly disengaged from the world except where their direct interests are concerned (which is also true).»

@SIOGNATURE = dedefensa.org