War Criminals in Bush administration

GOOD MORNING FLINT!
8/31/09
BY Terry Bankert

I ASK AGAIN “ When is torture justified?”

George W. Bush must be charged a a war criminal! It is the only way we can discover what crimes the Rouge Vice President Dick Cheney committed.

The ex vice president continues to run his mouth reducing the esteem this country is held world wide and rubbing it in our face that he has gotten away scott free after orchestrating a series of violations of international law as vice president.

Two things will be achieved
(1) We learn if the president or vice president was running the country during the term of George W. Bush.
(2) We will safe guard ourselves by showing the world we hold the rule of international law in high regard.

VICE PRESIDENT CHENEY SUPPORTS VIOLATION OF LAW IN HANDLING PRISIONERS

Fox News Sunday's Chris Wallace was able to get an important, and clarifying, admission from Vice President Dick Cheney in an interview that was broadcast today. Wallace mentions a list of techniques that CIA agents are accused of using in violation of the legal guidance that the Bush Administration established. [fox]

These include threatening a naked detainee with a power drill and a gun, and staging mock executions. Then Wallace asks Cheney this question:WALLACE: So even these cases where they went beyond the specific legal authorization, you're OK with it.CHENEY: I am.[fox]

IF VIOLATIONS OF LAW IN THE HANDLING OF PRISIONERS HAPPENED SHOULD GEORGE W BUSH BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE? …..YES!

Former Vice President Dick Cheney lashed out at President Barack Obama and the attorney general Sunday, saying the Justice Department's decision to investigate whether CIA operatives broke the law in their interrogation of terrorism suspects was politically motivated and dangerous to national security. [chic]

WHAT ARE WAR CRIMES

War crimes are "violations of the laws or customs of war"; including but not limited to "murder, the ill-treatment or deportation of civilian residents of an occupied territory to slave labor camps", "the murder or ill-treatment of prisoners of war", the killing of hostages, "the wanton destruction of cities, towns and villages, and any devastation not justified by military, or civilian necessity".[1] [W] The modern concept of war crime was further developed under the auspices of the Nuremberg Trials based on the definition in the London Charter that was published on August 8, 1945. (Also see Nuremberg Principles.) Along with war crimes the charter also defined crimes against peace and crimes against humanity, which are often committed during wars and in concert with war crimes.[W]

Article 22 of the Hague IV ("Laws of War: Laws and Customs of War on Land (Hague IV); October 18, 1907") states that "The right of belligerents to adopt means of injuring the enemy is not unlimited" and over the last century many other treaties have introduced positive laws that place constraints on belligerents (see International treaties on the laws of war).

Some of the provisions, such as those in the Hague conventions, are considered to be part of customary international law, and are binding on all.[2] Others are only binding on individuals if the belligerent power to which they belong is a party to the treaty which introduced the constraint. [w]

IF THE PRESIDENT DOES IT , IT IS NOT AGAINST THE LAW. THE PRESIDENT IS THE LAW?

There is not much nuance there. Cheney is saying he does not object to the rogue behavior of CIA agents who went beyond their legal mandate. (In the same interview, Cheney says that the Bush Justice Department found there was nothing "improper or illegal" in this behavior, a determination that is now under review by the Obama Justice Department.) Speaking of the interrogation program as a whole, Cheney says, "It was good policy. It was properly carried out. It worked very, very well."[fox]

WE SHOULD BE ASHAMED

Power drills and mock executions are not the only extralegal techniques that CIA employees are alleged to have committed. One CIA contractor, according to the CIA Inspector General, is alleged to have beaten an Afghan detainee to death with a large metal flashlight and his foot. Released criminal records show that another CIA employee was interrogating a detainee at Abu Ghraib prison in a stress position with a bag over his head, when the detainee died of asphyxiation. Assuming that Cheney did not misspeak, his statement to Wallace suggests that he believes these deaths are "OK' given the circumstances.[fox]

UNDER CHENEY HALBURTON PROFITED AND CIA KILLED BEYOND THE LAW.

There are the beginnings here of a possible pattern in Cheney's thoughts--the suggestion that violations of law in the service of a greater national good are forgivable fox]

CHENEY IS ABOVE THE LAW AND WILL NOT COOPERATE

Former Vice President Dick Cheney yesterday condemned the Justice Department's decision last Monday to investigate suspected CIA prisoner abuses, indicating that he may not cooperate with the prosecutor assigned to the case. [inq]

DON’T LOOK BACK? DON’T ALL CRIMINAL PROSECUTIONS …LOOK BACK?

Cheney, in a taped Fox News interview that aired yesterday, said President Obama set a "terrible precedent" by allowing an "intensely partisan, politicized look back at the prior administration." [inq]

Asked whether he would talk to John Durham, the veteran prosecutor appointed by Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. to examine allegations that the CIA abused Sept. 11 terror suspects, Cheney said: "It will depend on the circumstances and what I think their activities are really involved in." [inq]

IT BAD TO HOLD THE PRESIDENT AND VICE PRESIDENT ACCOUNTABLE

Not only does Cheney believe the changes in tactics are bad policy, he said the review, if it travels up the chain of command, will set a dangerous precedent for future administrations to seek prosecutions for opinions a previous administration has cleared through the Department of Justice.[wp]

DON’T ASK , DON’T TELL APPLIED TO THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION

Cheney said he was aware of a Bush administration order banning the CIA from advising Congress about a program to kill or capture terrorists.[inq]


By Terry Bankert
http://www.flintfamilylaw.com/

see
[fox]
http://swampland.blogs.time.com/2009/08/30/dick-cheney-and-the-rule-of-law/
[inq]
http://www.philly.com/inquirer/world_us/20090831_In_the_Nation.html
[chic]
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-tc-nw-cheney-0830-0831aug31,0,3821649.story
[wp]http://voices.washingtonpost.com/44/2009/08/30/cheney_im_very_proud_of_what_w.html?hpid=topnews[w]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_crime

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