Thursday, January 12, 2006

AlterNet: The Impeachment of George W. Bush

America has a War Crimes Act.
Interesting. It seems likely that Bush has violated it with his exemption of abusers and torturers working for him.


AlterNet: The Impeachment of George W. Bush: "The evidence before us now suggests that the President himself may have authorized detainee abuse. In January 2002, after the Afghanistan war had begun, White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales advised President Bush in writing that US mistreatment of detainees might be criminally prosecutable under the War Crimes Act. Rather than order the possibly criminal behavior to stop, which under the Geneva Conventions and the War Crimes Act the President was obligated to do, Bush authorized an 'opt-out' of the Geneva Conventions to try to shield the Americans who were abusing detainees from prosecution.

In other words, the President's response to reports of detainee abuse was to prevent prosecution of the abusers, thereby implicitly condoning the abuse and authorizing its continuation. If torture or inhuman treatment of prisoners took place as a result of the President's conduct, then he himself may have violated the War Crimes Act, along with those who actually inflicted the abuse."

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