I do not know whether time travel is possible or not, but I do know that history has a way of repeating itself.

Recently I watched an old black-and-white Errol Flynn pirate movie. It struck me that though centuries have past since the British sailed the seas raiding and plundering the Spanish Main, buccaneers and pirates are alive and well and doing thriving business. Today however, they wear suits and work as lawyers in the US.

Since Hammurabi laid down the first written laws in human history and through all the ages that followed, one very important axiom prevailed, “Upon the plaintiff lies the burden of proof.”

This, however, is not good enough for our American friends. They have come up with a truly novel idea of justice. In America, if someone is accused of something, the court permits the accuser — the “plaintiff” — to exercise something called “discovery” which means that the plaintiff is given access to all the defendant’s documents, files, bank accounts etc. in order for him to search for proof of his accusations. So, the plaintiff gathers his proof from the defendant’s own documents which he is free to examine.

If a defendant refuses to comply, then the judge rules automatically in favor of the plaintiff without the latter needing to provide a shred of proof for his accusations.

If, after searching, the plaintiff finds no evidence to support his claim, his claim is dismissed. The defendant has no right to compensation for the embarrassment or harassment he has endured nor can he be compensated for the legal fees he was forced to incur in order to defend himself.

Defendants do, however, have recourse to what is known as “a settlement” which essentially means paying off the plaintiff in order to avoid the hassle and expense of court cases. This obviously offers rich opportunities for blackmail.

The courts of the US are filled with these kinds of cases which would have made even Blackbeard blush at the temerity of US lawyers in abusing their legal system to their great profit and to the detriment of US justice.

Another example of modern piracy, once again from the US, is what happens regularly in Wall Street. I assumed that one could mortgage only one’s own assets.

However, Wall Street allows people to mortgage anything, even something which they do not own.

Groups of investors arrange with banks and investment companies to take over a publicly traded company. The banks provide the funds and the investors pledge the assets of the target company to secure the funds.

So, the target company pays for its own takeover — sounds like Iraq, doesn’t it? After the purchase of the target company, the investors proceed to sell off its assets to pay off the debts incurred in taking it over with little or no regard for the shareholders of the company or its employees or any other interested parties. This is what the Americans call a “raid” and the people who perform them are called “corporate raiders”. This has been so successful that some “raiders” merely threaten a “raid” in order to blackmail huge sums of money from terrified companies. Truly such piratical practices would warm the cockles of Captain Blood’s black heart.

Last, but not least, is the US application of such practices in the field of international relations. Today the US accuses countries of harboring terrorism or of having weapons of mass destruction. Then, on the flimsiest of excuses, it invades and occupies them. Its armed forces proudly display the “Jolly Roger” as they have done in Iraq. If evidence is found of the truth of the accusations, it remains for them to clean the terrorists out of the country. If no evidence is found, it still remains in occupation but this time it introduces democracy and keeps its victims’ resources in “trust” for its people.

Who said pirates don’t exist anymore?

Arab News Opinion 25 May 2003