The Declining West: Tragedy or Comedy?Paul Craig Roberts, Contributor In the aftermath of World War II and during the subsequent decades of the Cold War with the Soviet Union, the Western nations presented themselves as the moral conscience of the world. It turns out that this was largely a hoax. The Western nations are merely pawns complicit in Washingtons crimes as Washington attempts to shut down all information in its pursuit of world hegemony. Mark Weisbrot writing in Aljazeera has this to say about Washingtons use of its puppet government in Sweden to pursue Julian Assange for publishing leaked documents that reveal Washingtons mendacity and deception of other countries. There is a wealth of evidence that the US is very much interested in punishing Assange, and it keeps growing: on August 18, the Sydney Morning Herald reported that Australias foreign service was aware that US authorities had been pursuing Assange for at least 18 months. And on August 24, Craig Murray, a former UK ambassador and 20-year career diplomat there, reported that his colleagues at the UK foreign office knew better than to make the unprecedented threat of invading Ecuadors embassy, but did so under pressure from Washington. Like many European countries, including of course the UK, Swedens foreign policy is closely allied with that of the US government. This is not the first time that Sweden has collaborated with its Washington allies to violate human rights and international law. In 2001, the Swedish government turned over two Egyptians to the CIA so that they could be sent to Egypt, where they were tortured. Swedens action brought condemnation from the UN and the government was forced to pay damages to the victims; both were later cleared of any wrongdoing. Polls showed that Swedes considered this crime the worst political scandal in their country in 20 years. Sweden is a highly developed social democracy that has many guarantees of civil rights and liberties to its citizens. The people of Sweden should not allow their government to continue to disgrace itself in another international governmental crime this one a pernicious attack on freedom of expression simply because Washington wants them to do so. Washington or Israelessentially the same thinghas caused the puppet government in Canada to end Canadas diplomatic relations with Iran for no reason whatsoever. The Canadian Foreign Minister John Baird in an unusual show of ignorance, even for him, condemned Iran as a threat to global security. No intelligent person could possibly believe that Iran comprises a threat to global security. Western nations have become a caricature of hypocrisy. If Western countries werent armed with nuclear weapons, the larger world would be rolling in laughter. Isnt capitalism great? It has such a highly refined moral conscience. This article first appeared at Paul Craig Roberts new website Institute For Political Economy. Paul Craig Roberts was Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Economic Policy and associate editor of the Wall Street Journal. He was columnist for Business Week, Scripps Howard News Service, and Creators Syndicate. He has had many university appointments. His Internet columns have attracted a worldwide following. Donations to Paul Craig Roberts are much appreciated. linkwithin_text=Related Articles: 