US War Criminals To Walk Away Scot-Free
Er... isn't not upholding the laws and constitution an impeachable offence?
WaPo reports that Bush's attorney general Alberto Gonzalez is seeking to have retroactive legislation passed that will exempt US citizens from prossecution under the War Crimes Act of 1996 for past illegal acts, even when those acts were ordered by Bush or his minions :
[...]
An obscure law approved by a Republican-controlled Congress a decade ago has made the Bush administration nervous that officials and troops involved in handling detainee matters might be accused of committing war crimes, and prosecuted at some point in U.S. courts.
Senior officials have responded by drafting legislation that would grant U.S. personnel involved in the terrorism fight new protections against prosecution for past violations of the War Crimes Act of 1996. That law criminalizes violations of the Geneva Conventions governing conduct in war and threatens the death penalty if U.S.-held detainees die in custody from abusive treatment.
In light of a recent Supreme Court ruling that the international Conventions apply to the treatment of detainees in the terrorism fight, Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales has spoken privately with Republican lawmakers about the need for such "protections," according to someone who heard his remarks last week.
Gonzales told the lawmakers that a shield is needed for actions taken by U.S. personnel under a 2002 presidential order, which the Supreme Court declared illegal, and under Justice Department legal opinions that have been withdrawn under fire, the source said. A spokeswoman for Gonzales, Tasia Scolinos, declined to comment on Gonzales's remarks.
What's this with the 'obscure'? Is WaPo trying to frame this law (which has been on the statute books for ten years, through Bosnia and Somalia) as some little, unimportant bit of text not worth arguing over, let alone applying as actual law? The statute in question doesn't look particularly obscure to me:
War Crimes Act of 1996 (as amended)18 U.S.C. § 2441.(a) Offense.--Whoever, whether inside or outside the United States, commits a war crime, in any of the circumstances described in subsection (b), shall be fined under this title or imprisoned for life or any term of years, or both, and if death results to the victim, shall also be subject to the penalty of death.
(b) Circumstances.--The circumstances referred to in subsection (a) are that the person committing such breach or the victim of such war crime is a member of the Armed Forces of the United States or a national of the United States (as defined in section 101 of the Immigration and Nationality Act).
(c) Definition.--As used in this section the term ‘war crime’ means any conduct--
(1) defined as a grave breach in any of the international conventions signed at Geneva 12 August 1949, or any protocol to such convention to which the United States is a party;
(2) prohibited by Article 23, 25, 27, or 28 of the Annex to the Hague Convention IV, Respecting the Laws and Customs of War on Land, signed 18 October 1907;
(3) which constitutes a violation of common Article 3 of the international conventions signed at Geneva, 12 August 1949, or any protocol to such convention to which the United States is a party and which deals with non- international armed conflict; or
(4) of a person who, in relation to an armed conflict and contrary to the provisions of the Protocol on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Mines, Booby-Traps and Other Devices as amended at Geneva on 3 May 1996 (Protocol II as amended on 3 May 1996), when the United States is a party to such Protocol, willfully kills or causes serious injury to civilians.
That looks pretty clear and unequivocal to me. I have a horrible feeling this is another one of those utterly immoral Gonzalez legal manoeuvres that will be ignored by the general public and the media, The torturers and rapists of Abu Ghraib, the military murderers of innocent women and childfren and the officers and politicians who ordered them to do it, all the way from Rumsfeld to the White House and Bush himself, can carry on doing whatever sadistic cruelties they like, secure in the knowledge there will be no consequences.
Untruth and injustice, it's the American way.
Posted 5:54 PM by Republic of Palau
| 
| 
| 
| 
| 
| 
| 
| 
|
"I think all foreigners should stop interfering in the internal affairs of Iraq."
-- U.S. Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, 21 July 2003
Self promotion
Martin:
Wis[s]e Words
International (political) weblog.
Booklog
Republic of Palau:
Take it as Red
Progressive weblogs:
Descriptions underneath are as much as possible taken from the weblog itself.
Fun-loving Feministas
Carnival of the Feminists
Held on the first and third Wednesday of each month and aims to showcase the finest feminist
posts from around the blogsphere.
Fetch Me My Axe
...we've all got something to grind. By Belledame222.
Pandagon
It's just Amanda now, strong on feminism.
Red State Feminist
Women's and Children's Issues, Family Law, Domestic Violence
Lefty lawyers
Lawyers, Guns and Money
No idea if they're really lawyers, actually
TalkLeft
The politics of crime.
Middle East knowitalls
Aron's Israel Peace weblog
short commentary on news items, articles and op-ed pieces about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Bethlehem bloggers
Voices from the Bethlehem ghetto.
Jews sans Frontieres
Mark Elf's anti-zionist blog.
Juan Cole
Required reading on Iraq and the Middle East.
Today in Iraq
What's really happening in Iraq
Soulfull scientists
Pharyngula
Science, politics and the intersection between them. By PZ Myers.
Science and Politics
Bora Zivkovic is trying to understand US politics by making strange connections between science,
religion, brain, language and sex.
Thus Spake Zuska
Not very polite.
Steadfast socialists
Actually Existing
Ruthless criticism of all that exists, except for the good bits. By Phil Edwards.
American Leftist
'Intelligent discontent is the mainspring of civilization.' -- Eugene V. Debs
Apostate Windbag
A journal of assorted leftwingery with a decided preference for discussing how the
late Christopher Hitchens is a twat
Bionic Octopus
"better...faster...coconutter."
Dead Men Left
Meaders is active in the RESPECT coalition, but don't hold it against him
GlobBlog
A blog about globalisation. By General Glut.
International Rooksbyism
Not just another scummie student commie's blog. By Ed Rooksby.
Law and Disorder
Socialism and the legal systems
Left I on the News
A leftwing view of the day's news and the way it's represented in the media. By Eli.
Lenin's Tomb
Erudite English Socialist Workers Party supporter.
A New Morning
German/English socialist leaning blog.
Perspective
by Alister Black, Scottish socialist. Writes mainly about local issues.
Sonic's Place
A computer generated, left-wing hedgehog's views on the world and the war
An Unenviable Situation
D Ghirlandaio on politics, art and the culture at large
Unrepentant Marxist
By Louis Proyect, veteran Marxist
Virtual Stoa
Home of the Dead Socialist Watch. By Chris Brooke.
They make fun of the right
So we don't have to.
Alicublog
Plays the stock market of the soul -- and sells short!
Go Fug Yourself
Mocking our betters in Hollywood and tv...
Jesus' General
An 11 on the Manly Scale of Absolute Gender
The Poor Man Institute
For Freedom, Democracy and a Pony.
Sadly No!
A group blog dedicated to make fun of idiots.
TBOGG
Faithful husband, soccer dad, basset owner, and Peggy Noonan stalker
World of Crap
Come point and laught at the fundies and rightwing loonies
Loveable liberals
American Samizdat
The collective effort of over thirty leftwing bloggers.
American Street
A collective of leftist bloggers, poisoning our precious bodily fluids.
Archy
politics, fringe watching, and other stuff. By John McKay.
The Burnt Orange Report
News, Politics, and Fun from Deep in the Heart of Texas.
Democratic Veteran
Because not every vet is a right winger or pseudo facist. By Jo.
Dependable Renegade
By watertiger, who has not yet shot anybody in the face ...yet.
Eschaton
The liberal answer to Instapundit?
FABlog
By David Ehrenstein
A Fistful of Euros
A groupblog focusing on the EU and European politics.
Hronkomatic
Paying good money to shut George Will up. By Jason McCullough.
Hullabaloo
Digby, frequent and eloquent commentor at various blogs finally has his own.
James Wolcott
Journalist, media personality and blogger
John Quiggin
Commentary on Australian & world politics from John Quiggin
Lean Left
by Kevin Raybould
The Left Coaster
Outside-the-Beltway perspectives on politics, current events, and the media
Left in the West
Written by Matt Singer, a Montanan who writes on local issues and national issues
and how they correspond to Montana and the west.
Liberal Oasis
Where the left is right and the right is wrong.
Mad Kane's Noteables
commentary on and song parodies about politics, current events, books, music,
and anything else that inspires her admiration or ire.
Majikthise
Analytic philosophy and liberal politics by Lindsay Beyerstein and others.
Making Light
Teresa and Patrick Nielsen Hayden's politics and life blog.
The Martini Republic
Group blog. Nice design, good content.
Mikhaela's News Blog
By Mikhaela Reid.
Musings and Migraines
Chicago liberal's musings on war, peace, Jon Stewart, art, media. By
Lenora.
Nathan Newman
A community and union activist, policy advocate and writer with an excellent weblog.
Oliver Willis
Like kryptonite to stupid.
Orcinus
Policy, Culture and Journalism in the 21st Century. By David Neiwert.
Pacific Views
regime change begins at home, escalate nonviolence. By Natasha.
Polygon, the Dancing Bear
Occasional notes on politics, history, architecture, and life. By Lawrence Kestenbaum.
Prometheus 6
"What I want to do here is talk to the town criers. And I'll be talking more about people than politics."
Rittenhouse Review
A journal of foreign policy, finance, ethics, and culture. By James M. Capozzola
The Road to Surfdom
an intermittent weblog by Tim Dunlop.
Ruminate This
News, views, activism and a smattering of something else. By Lisa English.
Sasha Undercover
Observations and commentary on politics, women, culture, and daily life. Not for the faint of heart.
Seeing the Forest
...for the trees
Shadow of the Hegemon
Written by returned from the death Greek demagogue Demosthenes so is very eloquent.
The Sideshow
Avedon makes me think. Her weblog revolves around US politics.
Skimble
Culture, politics, commentary, criticism. Views from the left, headquartered in Chicago USA.
Slacktivist
Hopeful outrage, politics, culture and religion from a progressive Christian perspective.
Smythe's World
Politics, baseball and more.
Steve Gilliard's News Blog
Insightful (inciteful?) and interesting
This Modern World
By Tom Tomorrow
Thoughts on the Eve of the Apocalypse
By Bill Connolly
Through the Looking Glass
A chronicle of the absurd, in politics and life. By Charles Dodgson
Wampum
Progressive Politics, Indian Issues, and Autism Advocacy. By "MB".
Whiskey Bar
Free thinking in a dirty glass. By Daily Kos alumni Billmon.
Xoverboard
Blogging and cartoons! Whoot!
Progressive news
