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Skriven 2006-06-15 15:41:18 av WAYNE CHIRNSIDE (1:123/140)
Ärende: RepubliCONS
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<excerpt>
For full unabridged article see the following URL.
http://peacejournalism.com/ReadArticle.asp?ArticleID=9203
Posted on: 6/15/2006
House Republican War Crimes
By William Rivers Pitt
t r u t h o u t | Perspective

Thursday 15 June 2006

There is going to be a debate today on the floor of the House of
Representatives regarding Iraq. Is it within the realm of possibility
to categorize a debate on the floor of the House as a war crime?
Is that too much of a stretch? Leveling a war crime accusation is
deadly serious business after all, and not to be bandied about like
some meager political football. Given what is expected to take place
today in Washington, unfortunately, such a categorization is worth
considering.

What is a war crime anyway? Article 147 of the Fourth Geneva Convention
defines war crimes as, "Willful killing, torture or inhuman treatment,
including willfully causing great suffering or serious injury to body
or health, unlawful deportation or transfer or unlawful confinement of
a protected person, compelling a protected person to serve in the forces
of a hostile power, or willfully depriving a protected person of the
rights of fair and regular trial, taking of hostages and extensive
destruction and appropriation of property, not justified by military
necessity and carried out unlawfully and wantonly."

How many of these definitions have been met by the United States during
our ill-fated adventure in Iraq and during this so-called
"War on Terror" as a whole?

Willful killing? Check: see Fallujah, Haditha, etc.
Torture or inhuman treatment, including willfully causing great
suffering or serious injury to body or health? Check: see Abu Ghraib.

Unlawful deportation or transfer or unlawful confinement of a
protected person? Check: see Guantanamo and the secret "rendition"
of prisoners for interrogation to nations that practice torture as a
matter of daily business.

< snip>

Article I, Section 8 of the United States Constitution endowed Congress
with the power to make war. To be sure, that power has been slowly but
surely usurped by a series of presidents, but the basic principle
remains.
At a minimum, if the legislative branch is going to surrender its
constitutional responsibilities regarding our formidable war powers
to the executive branch, they should at least attempt to exert a degree
of oversight once the bullets start to fly.

This Republican congress has not done this to any degree whatsoever.
They rolled the whole process down the hill to 1600 Pennsylvania,
provided political and legal cover for the White House every time
something went wrong, wrapped themselves in as many American flags as
they could find, and stapled themselves to this president who, by his
own words, goes to work every day with war on his mind. Thus it has
been for the last three years and 87 days.

WC> Then the article goes on to say Republican Majority Leader
WC> John Boehner suggests the 9-11 WTC - Pentagon attacks should be
WC> mentioned as often as possible.
WC> My opinion:
WC> Republicans, govorning through fear and propaganda.

WC> And a bit more, not all

Nowhere in this confidential strategy memo does Boehner suggest that the
House attempt to regain control of the process that has led us to this
dreary and deadly situation. Nowhere does he note that waving the bloody
shirt of 9/11, especially in situations that have nothing to do with
that day, is an irresponsible perversion of the facts on record.
Nowhere does he note that every credible human being on the planet
has flatly declared that Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11. Nowhere does
he mention the weapons of mass destruction that were not there.
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