Will we listen. . .I doubt it

The AP is reporting that the UN is urging the US to shut down the prison camp at Guantanamo. According to the article

In a response included at the end of the report, the U.S. ambassador to the U.N. offices in Geneva said investigators had taken little account of evidence against the abuse allegations provided by the United States and rejected an invitation to visit Guantanamo.

“It is particularly unfortunate that the special rapporteurs rejected the invitation and that their unedited report does not reflect the direct, personal knowledge that this visit would have provided,” ambassador Kevin Moley wrote.

However this argument seems a bit lame when one considers

The five U.N. experts had sought invitations from the United States to visit Guantanamo since 2002. Three were invited last year, but refused to go in November after being told they could not interview detainees.

What good is a trip to visit if they are not going to be allowed to do what they need to do. It seems obvious that there are things going on down there that we want to hide. If another country behaved the way the US does, there is no way we would stand for it. Just ask Saddam. The US attitude seems to be "Do what the UN says or else, but don't expect us to do what the UN says." Unfortunately, we have the international power to get away with it. But it really only serves to continue to erode our image overseas.

When one considers the Gramscian definition of hegemony (leading by ideas and legitimacy), I fear American hegemony is waning. Once we move completely into the realist notion of hegemony (leading by might and force), I hate to think what will happen.