John Dean: Are We Civilized Enough to Hold Our Leaders Accountable for War Crimes? World Is Watching

[marmar]

via AlterNet:



Are We Civilized Enough to Hold Our Leaders Accountable for War Crimes? The World Is Watching

By John W. Dean, FindLaw.com. Posted January 24, 2009.

Other countries are likely to take action against officials who condoned torture, even if the United States fails to do so.



Remarkably, the confirmation of President Obama's Attorney General nominee, Eric Holder, is being held up by Texas Republican Senator John Cornyn, who apparently is unhappy that Holder might actually investigate and prosecute Bush Administration officials who engaged in torture. Aside from this repugnant new Republican embrace of torture (which might be a winning issue for the lunatic fringe of the party and a nice way to further marginalize the GOP), any effort to protect Bush officials from legal responsibility for war crimes, in the long run, will not work.

It is difficult to believe that Eric Holder would agree not to enforce the law, like his recent Republican predecessors. Indeed, if he were to do so, President Obama should withdraw his nomination. But as MSNBC "Countdown" anchor Keith Olbermann stated earlier this week, even if the Obama Administration for whatever reason does not investigate and prosecute these crimes, this still does not mean that the Bush Administration officials who were involved in torture are going to get a pass.

With few exceptions, the discussion about what the Obama Administration will do regarding the torture of detainees during the Bush years has been framed as a domestic matter, and the fate of those involved in torturing has been largely viewed as a question of whether the Department of Justice will take action. In fact, not only is the world watching what the Obama Administration does regarding Bush's torturers, but other countries are very likely to take action if the United States fails to do so.

Bush's Torturers Have Serious Jeopardy

Philippe Sands, a Queen's Counsel at Matrix Chambers and Professor of International law at University College London, has assembled a powerful indictment of the key Bush Administration people involved in torture in his book Torture Team: Rumsfeld's Memo and the Betrayal of American Values. He explains the legal exposure of people like former attorney general Alberto Gonzales, Dick Cheney's counsel and later chief of staff David Addington, former Office of Legal Counsel attorney John Yoo, the former Department of Defense general counsel Jim Haynes, and others for their involvement in the torture of detainees at Guantanamo, Abu Ghraib, and CIA secret prisons. ..............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.alternet.org/story/122186/are_we_civilized_enough_to_hold_our_leaders_accountable_for_war_crimes_the_world_is_watching/

[Solly Mack]

1. I know the world is watching. A lot of people know the world is watching.

And even knowing the world could take action doesn't change how criminal and corrupt it will look (and not just look) for the US to protect its war criminals. And not charging them IS protecting them...especially since the safe bet is that the US won't extradite any of them. A country that is too cowardly to charge its war criminals isn't brave enough to extradite them.

Waiting for someone else to do our job will lead to certain narratives (for many) - "foreigners trying to tell us what to do" , "foreigners wanting to arrest our leaders", "foreigners interfering with our rule of law" - with all the prejudice some in America have against Europe.

"If the Bush administration was guilty of anything then America would charge them" will be another narrative used as well (much like its already been used in the form of , "If Bush did something criminal then why wasn't he impeached?"



and by relying on others to do what we should do, well, that just makes us cowards.(among other things)

[Demeter]

2. With the Exception of Nancy Pelosi, I'd Say YES

but let's not hold things up just for her.

[izzie]

3. I think Obama will have to do it but will he? My guess is no.

Or not yet. Their are just to many people in power in Congress that fear they will not have power and to many Am. that believe we should always hit back. Time will do the work and the next 50 years will make us sorry. Just like what we did at Manzarna(sp) and all that business. The WW2 camps.

[pmorlan1]

4. Media need to get a clue

I wonder when our beltway media personalities will recognize that you can't say you are against torture while at the same time publicly making excuses for it and advocating against prosecuting those who authorized it?

[Iwillnevergiveup]

5. I just hope

John Dean, Michael Rattner, and Jonathan Turley all have Obama's ear. It's about righting the wrongs. The many wrongs.

[tom_paine]

6. Unlikely. VERY unlikely. Though we can hope...

[Karenina]

12. The corruption must be removed.

What we face now is the result of not having done so in the past. Prescott Bush, who was part of an attempt to overthrow FDR, aided and abetted the Nazis. Neither he, his cousins, son, nephews, grandchildren have EVER been called to account for the CRIMES THEY HAVE COMMITTED, which are LEGION and have caused untold suffering.

Ladies and gentlemen, please start your engines. If you are not well acquainted with the name, "Smedley Darlington Butler," do go look him up. "War is a Racket". It's critical to "Know Your BFEE" which can easily be found in Octafish's Journal on this site.

The OBVIOUS CONSEQUENCE of the abject EPIC FAILURE to prosecute the "elite" for their crimes has resulted in their ESCALATION.
Can someone 'splain to me what is not to get here? :shrug:

[MasonJar]

7. John Dean is not alone. Jonathan Turley tonight on Countdown repeated

his legal opinion that if Obama does not investigate, he becomes an accessory to the crime. Obama is losing me fast with his Republican "bending overs." He's outdoing Pelosi and Reid. I am very disappointed that he is allowing the GOPers to take away infrastructure improvement for their ever-present tax cuts. He had better investigate these Bushista war crimes...war crimes are not something one gets to go past to the future...they taint any American future. Is Obama, smart as he is, just too accommodating to be a tough president?

[LibDemAlways]

10. This business of coddling repukes is sickening.

The Dems are in charge. They have the votes to push through the legislation they want and yet Obama seems to be worried about accommodating the opposition. What is it with Dems? Even when they have power they don't fully exert it. You'd think they'd have learned something from the days when the repukes held court. I seem to recall Conyers being relegated to the basement.

And, yes, Obama has an obligation to see that Bush crimes are investigated and the perpetrators brought to justice. Otherwise, we have no more moral authority than any other two-bit backwater banana republic.

[shintao]

8. Torture? We are talking Murder of 26 POWs on Bush Inc. Watch!!

What is wrong here anyway? 26 POWs were tortured to death. There are military reports & lower subordinants prosecuted. There are autopsies explaining the beatings leading to death of these Shackled and defenseless human beings. That is murder, and Bush was the CIC overseeing and approving these interogation techniques. For gods sake! This is far more than waterboarding, this is beating POWs hung by their ankles from the ceiling until their blood vessels ruptured and were left for dead in that postion. Others were frozen to death. Christ, this crap is akin to Hitler in magnitude!








http://www.charlydmiller.com/LIB06/2005JulyMedscapePOWRA.html

[Vattel]

13. And you have what evidence

that Bush or Rumsfeld authorized the sort of detainee abuse that killed these individuals? We know they authorized waterboarding.

[madrchsod]

9. ignorance of the law is no excuse....but

in the case of the bush administration they knew what they were doing was a crime.

obama will do nothing to hold these criminals to account for their crimes.

[The Blue Flower]

11. Haven't we already set the precedent for conviction?

We already have military personnel doing prison time for these actions. How can DOJ or DOD say these are not crimes at this point?