Contemporary Examples Of The Persecution Of Dutiful Citizens

Modern examples have not yet (circa 2003) revealed citizens being officially executed for doing their duty but include:

• The Cricket Umpires: who enforced the rules in January 1999 were persecuted by their management.

• The Parents: who were taken to court for disciplining their children.

• The Police Officers:

• In Queensland who felt their duty demanded juvenile criminals be punished rather than be continually arrested and released

• In NSW who publicly risked their lives to disarm a dangerous lunatic

—gained nothing but having to defend their freedom in a court of law.

• The Public Servant: who lost his job and was taken to court for writing a book—Dole Bludging—A Tax Payers Guide revealing the absurdity of his departments rules.

• The Teacher: who tried to do his duty and enforce discipline in his class, only to be prosecuted by the parents of the chastised pupil.

• The Politician: who felt she could win sensible reforms by publicly speaking the truth, gained only widespread social odium, betrayal by her own organisation, and death threats. Pauline Hanson acted like any patriotic, brave Australian by pointing out absurdities in popular notions. Her actions won public denouncement and widespread hatred. Those few citizens who rallied to her support by forming the Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party, soon revealed that they expected this determined woman to support not her, but their, ideas—the silly notions of a rabble of malcontents.

• The Patriot: an Australian citizen who led the investigation into the possession of weapons of mass destruction by the dangerous tyrant, Saddam Hussien, found himself denounced for doing his duty. After delivering his report to the United Nations in 1998, Richard Butler discovered he could not get re-employment and was generally blamed by the media for the subsequent outburst of military attacks upon Iraq.

To seek out the weapons of mass destruction possessed by an enemy in their own country is a dangerous but crucial task, allowed only by the application of military action against Iraq. If the search was to achieve any meaningful result it had to be conducted despite every obstruction and threat by the Iraqis, which meant the inspection had to be unlimited in its scope. On August 3rd 1999, Butler made it public that his superior had seemed more interested in disarming the weapons investigators than Iraq. The then secretary general of the United Nations had failed to heed his advice but had extended concessions to the Iraqis that significantly hampered the investigations; in effect he accused Mr Koffi Annan of treason; a stance that was supported by David Kaye, the former chief weapons inspector in Iraq. The media never once mentioned this grave charge, choosing instead to merely publicise the reply of the alleged traitor who said: "I don't think I have to comment. Everybody knows what happened." (SBS National Television News 3/8/99) Which is not a refutation of the accusation but a blatant and childish attempt to denigrate his previous employee. And the media further diluted Mr Butler's claim by airing the opinions of another weapon's inspector, who they labelled Mr Butler's nemesis (SBS National Television News 3/8/99). Mr Scott Ritter claimed that Richard Butler was:

• A U.S. spy.

• Trying to "rewrite history favourable to himself"

Uniting Ritter and Annan both in their support for the enemy and the use of meaningless innuendo.

• The Soldiers: who while risking their lives as occupation troops in Iraq, were prosecuted for killing rebels.