Now you know from past discussions that I'm against this war, but GWB
isn't a war criminal in the legal sense of the term.
There are technicalities under the UN Resolutions where the war was
justified, if ill advised. The reasons for going to war were trumped,
but under UN Resolutions passed at the end of the Iraq war once Iraq was
in material breach of the Resolutions, the wording could be taken to
indicate military action was permitted. So there's no war crime for
going to war.
Therefore since there was no war crime for going to war unless one can
prove that during that war US and its allies willfully targeted
civilians or non military installations or otherwise breached the geneva
conventions during the war then there are no war crimes there either.
Now let's take the aftermath of the war. The US passed that Terrorists
are not to be afforded rights of the Geneva Convention. Apparently not
enough Americans thought this a bad thing to make GWB give a damn. So
therefore as far as the US is concerned, what happened in the Iraqi
prisons also doesn't qualify as a war crime, since they can easily group
everyone in that prison as a terrorist suspect.
So the only war crime challenge possible is with the abuse at the
prisons, and this would be in the International community's eyes, not
legally in the US, since they went ahead and made their own rules as
regarding Terrorists.
I agree with you that from what I know, the Bush Administration has
totally ruined American foreign relations.
If Americans really feel strongly about this, then the world will see a
'Change of Regime' in November. Like it or not, the Administration in
Washington has a major effect on all other countries of the world, so I
hope that a change will come and that it will be one for the better.
-Gel
-----Original Message-----
From: Ken Ketsdever
If you initiate a war under false pretenses, against International will
and against International law sounds to me like that might be considered
a war crime. Killing thousands of people (many if not most of whom were
not combatants), destroying a countries infrastructure, permitting
crimes against prisoners, detaining hundreds of people without charges,
or legal represntation etc... If the roles were reveresed we would be
saying the perpetrator was a war criminal comitting crimes against
humanity.
When pictures of American Prisoners were shown it was an outrage. It was
humiliating against the Geneva Convention etc... Yet we have no
reservation about showing pictures of Iraqi prisoners. Not to mention
the abuse that has been documented since last fall.
Are we going to lead by example or by force? Bush has done more to ruin
this country than Sadam or Osama could have ever done.
---
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