On 7/12/2012 1:08 PM, Max Boot wrote:
> On 7/12/2012 11:01 AM, Max Boot wrote:
>> On 7/12/2012 10:52 AM, Jeff M wrote:
>>> On 7/12/2012 12:36 PM, Max Boot wrote:
>>>> On 7/12/2012 8:19 AM, Jeff M wrote:
>>>>> On 7/12/2012 7:10 AM, cloud dreamer wrote:
>>>>>> On 12/07/2012 1:40 AM, V Plane wrote:
>>>>>>> On 11 Jul 2012, Harold Burton <
hal.i....@hotmail.com> posted
Nope. It's officially a criminal conviction, not the one they deserve,
but a conviction nonetheless, after what we can only hope is the first
of many trials to come.
You are ignorant of international law. There are a variety of courts,
tribunals and commissions exercising universal jurisdiction over war
crimes cases. Of course, many in the U.S., particularly right-wingers,
deny that the such courts have any jurisdiction, and try to pretend that
the International Criminal Court; the International Court of Justice;
the International Military Tribunal, a.k.a., the Nuremberg Court; the
International Military Tribunal for the Far East; the International
Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia; the International Criminal
Tribunal for Rwanda; and several others didn't, don't and never existed.
But they do, and their influence and reach is growing.
Furthermore, a number of states claim, have claimed, or recognize
universal jurisdiction for offenses such as piracy or war crimes,
including Canada, Australia, Spain, France, and Belgium, and have
prosecuted war criminals under it. So Bush and Co. join the likes of
Augusto Pinochet of Argentina, who was extradited from Britain to stand
trial in Spain; various African and Latin American warlords, some of
whom are currently in prison in Belgium and elsewhere, and, most
famously, Adolph Eichmann, who was taken from Argentina and tried,
convicted and executed in Israel, all tried under various forms of
universal jurisdiction, just as Bush, et al. were.
Of course, The main problem in such proceedings is always enforcement,
and the tribunal has reportedly referred it's findings to the
International Court of Justice. But these courts typically look to
state powers for enforcement, so the odds of that Bush and his
co-conspirators will be punished in this life is very low.
So many senior Justice Department officials were complicit in the crimes
that the Department of Justice, which had been highly politicized during
the Bush years, could not be expected to prosecute their own bosses. A
number of foreign states expressed some interest in prosecuting, as
well, but they are mostly close US allies and would have nothing to gain
and much to lose, with no hope that the US would extradite the criminals
to face justice, either.
Perhaps John Ashcroft expressed the situation best, when in a White
House meeting with other co-conspirators to approve specific torture
methods, he observed "Why are we talking about this in the White House?
History will not judge this kindly."
I believe that they will all eventually answer in a Higher court, where
they will finally be judged for all their deeds. In the meantime,
Ashcroft was correct - history has judged them, and found them guilty.