Bush boasts "we're kicking ass" in Iraq amid charges by Sydney Blumenthal that Bush knew Saddam had no WMD. In other words, Bush deliberately defrauded the troops, the nation, the Congress, the world.Bush is now criminally culpable, subject to prosecution for every death on either side. Bush has committed capital crimes. Words do not describe the venal idiocy of this cretin so at ease with his disconnect with common sense and morality, so comfortable wallowing in the misery his lies have caused. Psychologists often use the term "lack of empathy" to describe this pathology. It is better known among the folk as "evil"!
Bush knew Saddam had no weapons of mass destructionAs Salon was breaking that exclusive, we learned elsewhere how Bush was yucking it up with another right wing seed pod --Australis's PM, John Howard.
Salon exclusive: Two former CIA officers say the president squelched top-secret intelligence, and a briefing by George Tenet, months before invading Iraq.
Sept. 6, 2007 | On Sept. 18, 2002, CIA director George Tenet briefed President Bush in the Oval Office on top-secret intelligence that Saddam Hussein did not have weapons of mass destruction, according to two former senior CIA officers. Bush dismissed as worthless this information from the Iraqi foreign minister, a member of Saddam's inner circle, although it turned out to be accurate in every detail. Tenet never brought it up again.
Nor was the intelligence included in the National Intelligence Estimate of October 2002, which stated categorically that Iraq possessed WMD. No one in Congress was aware of the secret intelligence that Saddam had no WMD as the House of Representatives and the Senate voted, a week after the submission of the NIE, on the Authorization for Use of Military Force in Iraq. The information, moreover, was not circulated within the CIA among those agents involved in operations to prove whether Saddam had WMD.
Today the US President will visit the National Maritime Museum to view the bell. It could be construed as an act of symmetry, given if Howard loses the election, this week would be the last time he and Bush see each other in their respective roles.
This was obviously apparent to Bush, who arrived in Australia in a chipper mood.
"We're kicking ass," he told Mark Vaile on the tarmac after the Deputy Prime Minister inquired politely of the President's stopover in Iraq en route to Sydney.
Olbermann: "Everything you (Bush) have said is a deception"
This is information that should have prevented Bush's order to attack and invade Iraq. The Salon story details how Tenet informed Bush. The information was not shared with Colin Powell who made an infamous presentation to the UN, a presentation consisting of plagiairzed student papers and old, out of date, black and white satellite photos. For some nefarious reason, the intelligence "...was also never shared with the senior military" command who planned planning the invasion.
Instead, said the former officials, the information was distorted in a report written to fit the preconception that Saddam did have WMD programs. That false and restructured report was passed to Richard Dearlove, chief of the British Secret Intelligence Service (MI6), who briefed Prime Minister Tony Blair on it as validation of the cause for war.Salon points out that none of the Senators who voted for the invasion had been informed of the report. Clearly --they were deliberately misled by a liar who has since claimed to be above the law. This, in itself, is impeachable, a criminal fraud, an unconstitutional assault upon the separation of powers. It also makes of the entire war against Iraq, a war crime punishable by death by this nation's own criminal codes.--Salon
§ 2441. War crimesPulling a deliberate fraud upon the people and their elected representatives in both houses of Congress is most certainly "high treason".
(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.
Additional resourcesTry Bush for war crimes, urges US combat veteran
Mark Dodd | September 05, 2007
GEORGE W. Bush should be tried as a war criminal for his role in launching the 2003 invasion of Iraq, and the Howard Government is culpable for supporting him, a US anti-war activist claims.
The US President and John Howard were committed to a failing war that was being waged for oil and economic motives, former US marine and two-time combat tour veteran Matt Howard said in Sydney yesterday.
The anti-war movement was growing in the US, and veterans had a responsibility to tell the truth about what was happening in Iraq, Mr Howard, 26, told a news conference at the Alternative APEC Centre in Sydney's Trades Hall.
The Prime Minister's support for the war provided "political cover" to Mr Bush's "dangerous political agenda", said Matt Howard.
His message on behalf of the Iraq Veterans Against the War was timed to coincide with the arrival in Sydney of Mr Bush for the APEC summit.
Tactically, Australia's 900-strong military contribution in Iraq was so small it made no difference compared with the 160,000 US troops there, but politically it was indispensable for the Bush White House, Matt Howard said.
"We've destroyed Iraq and it's been done in our name, and the Australian Government is involved," he said.
"In 2003, I illegally invaded Iraq. We left a swath of destruction all the way from Basra to Baghdad."
Mr Bush should be tried for crimes against humanity over the killing of the tens of thousands of Iraqi men, women and children who were victims of the war, Mr Howard said.
Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said the Government was "entirely comfortable" with Britain's decision to withdraw its troops from their base in the southern city of Basra and redeploy them in the nearby airport.
- Will Durst: Republicans Gone Wild
- Intelligence database worrying some
- Second British general bashes US strategy in Iraq
- Yet Another Way to Compare Bush to Hilter
- The Politicization of the Department of Justice
The Existentialist Cowboy
Imperialism
Conservative Lies
War Crimes
Indict Bush
Why Conservatives Hate America
GOP Crime Syndicate
Iraq
Spread the word:
24 comments:
Yes, George Bush should be tried as a war criminal. But will he? Daddy Bush, will protect Bush and so it may never happen. Still if the economy slips badly enough, our people might finally demand it.
An obvious conflict of interest will arise eventually with the people connected to the corporate run Whitehouse wars and the so-called christian do-good'ers. Too many people making money on this occupation to ever let it go.
Zionists run both parties, so Bush is going nowhere. Only Israel benefits from these endless Middle East wars. Iraq is the beginning. As we commit war-crimes in Baghdad, the US gov't commits treason at home by opening mail, eliminating habeas corpus, using the judiciary to steal private lands, banning books like "America Deceived" from Amazon and Wikipedia, conducting warrantless wiretaps and engaging in illegal wars on behalf of AIPAC's 'money-men'. Soon, another US false-flag operation will occur (sinking of an Aircraft Carrier by Mossad) and the US will invade Iran.. Then we'll invade Syria, then Saudi Arabia, then Lebanon (again) then ....
Final link (before Google Books bends to gov't demands and censors the title):
America Deceived (book)
As an aside, did you see Ron Paul call out Israel on 200+ nukes during the debate last night? It is HIGHLY recommended viewing.
Too many people making money on this occupation to ever let it go.
Indeed! Check out some of the archives for this blog. That "conflict of interest" is intentional. This nation's business has BECOME war. But losing a war has terrible consequences. A war crime trial for Bush, Cheney and, even members of the "Energy Task Force" who conspired with Dick Cheney and George Bush to attack and invade Iraq for the oil may find themselves, as losers often do, without the protection of US federal marshalls. They might find themselves in the dock charged with a hangin' offense! I will be working to see that justice gets done!
Simon Wiesenthal managed to bring quite a few Nazis to justice.
A similar effort should be organized to track down Bush war criminals. I might just set up a foundation for that purpose.
Iraq is the beginning. As we commit war-crimes in Baghdad, the US gov't commits treason at home by opening mail, eliminating habeas corpus, using the judiciary to steal private lands, banning books like "America Deceived" from Amazon and Wikipedia, conducting warrantless wiretaps and engaging in illegal wars on behalf of AIPAC's 'money-men'.
Yep! You ARE correct. The question is: will we let them get away with it?
While I agree entirely with everything that you posted in this article, Len, I'm just wondering what has changed that makes trial for high crimes more likely. I mean, I feel like I've been seeing this picture since 2002. The UN inspectors were not allowed to finish their job of looking for WMD. If war had not been desired, the inspectors would have been allowed to finish their work. The current regime would have chosen diplomacy until the last possible minute. They could have waited and they didn't.
How is this latest revelation any better or different than what we knew after the Downing Street Memo was made public? That document was quite incriminating, IMO.
I'm not really expecting you to answer these questions - I'm not attacking you. I'm just feeling frustrated that this so obviously (since a long time) corrupt administration has not yet been impeached. I feel helpless and powerless. Who will impeach? How will this happen? Is there anything I can do to speed up the process???? I want to believe that, finally, there is enough evidence to throw the bums out, but IMO there is already plenty of evidence, so there must be something else that needs to happen before we can be rid of them all.
marain said...
While I agree entirely with everything that you posted in this article, Len, I'm just wondering what has changed that makes trial for high crimes more likely.
Probably nothing! It was a capital crime when Bush ordered the invasion and murdered some 30,000 civilians and it is still a capital crime now that the civilian death has topped one million. I have cited the federal statutes, the international laws chapter and verse, as well as various case law for what seems like a decade now. If nothing has changed --politically --in that time then America is fuckin' finished as a nation. I keep reminding people of the facts because they are the facts and because I dare to hope that facts still matter in a world of bullshit and spin.
Len Hart said:
I keep reminding people of the facts because they are the facts and because I dare to hope that facts still matter in a world of bullshit and spin.
And I am so grateful that you do this. You are my homepage - the first thing I read every day. I am glad that you are making this huge effort every day.
marain said...
And I am so grateful that you do this. You are my homepage - the first thing I read every day. I am glad that you are making this huge effort every day.
I appreciate that more than you know. In any case, I won't give up the fight and I fully intend to outlive the enemies of our Democracy. But, as you may have gathered, I take what Bush has done to our country and the world personally. At some point, the sheer gravitas, the weight of Bush's crimes will come crashing down on the Fourth Reich. In any case --keep the faith! Losing the underpinnings of decency itself is just NOT an option.
Len Hart said...
But, as you may have gathered, I take what Bush has done to our country and the world personally.
I think I do, too. Everything that has been happening is just so unbelievable and outrageous - against all the good things about our country and our democracy that I learned about in school.
At some point, the sheer gravitas, the weight of Bush's crimes will come crashing down on the Fourth Reich.
I sure hope you are right about this, Len. I hope that we can all celebrate this someday.
In any case --keep the faith!
I will try.
Many thanks for your great work. I love what you write, and feel reassured to know that you intend to carry on.
marain said...
I think I do, too. Everything that has been happening is just so unbelievable and outrageous - against all the good things about our country and our democracy that I learned about in school.
And not even that is safe. The right wing will rewrite and dilute every curriculum in order to advance their dubious causes. I've been lucky to have had some incredibly gifted mentors along the way. Not everyone is so lucky. Education is one of my passions. what the GOP has done in the name of "education" makes my skin crawl.
Bush isn't the only war criminal. Every politician that voted for the war or voted to fund it is a war criminal.
E.A. Blayre (anonymous - "Zionists run both parties"), please stop spamming thousands of blogs as you try to flog your stupid and badly written book which, contrary to your idiotic and mendacious claims (a sales pitch for a pitifully bad product) that "Possession of this novel may result in unlimited detention." and that it is banned or about to be banned or censored - you've been doing this for years, and it is most tiresome.
libhom - I disagree, not every politician who voted for the war or voted to fund it is a war criminal, since they were fed lies and not given the facts. You should read Blumenthal's article on Salon: Bush knew Saddam had no weapons of mass destruction.
"Bush Should Stand Trial for Capital Crimes, War Crimes"
No shit.
What restraints are there on these people to respect the Rule of Law when it comes to international matters? Bush and co is not accountable to those nations who have to bear the brunt of their aggression. The US public only holds them accountable in as far as their policies and international actions do not support their self-interest.
As far as I am concerned the American voters had two opportunities to keep this madman out of office. They failed to do so and I feel that they deserve what's coming to them.
In regard to the rest of humanity I think it is time that we become pragmatic in our thinking. We need a global justice system, be it a popular one - one legitimized and powered by global public opinion.
J C Grobler said...
As far as I am concerned the American voters had two opportunities to keep this madman out of office. They failed to do so and I feel that they deserve what's coming to them.
You are a hard case but I find it hard to disagree! There is much truth to the adage that a people get the kind of government they deserve. May God help us! Bush surely won't. Majority rule doesn't work when a majority is either blind, stupid, or easily duped. There are many good American people. What scares me is the possibility that there just are not enough of them to outnumber the brainwashed GOP, idiots who can't find Texas on a map of Texas and New Mexico, and gun nuts who think Bush is not a member of the Village People.
In regard to the rest of humanity I think it is time that we become pragmatic in our thinking. We need a global justice system, be it a popular one - one legitimized and powered by global public opinion.
Justice Jackson certainly had hopes that the principles forged at Nuremberg might be the framework from which a global system of justice might emerge. And, were it not for the GOP's imperial ambitions, that might have happened. Certainly, American regimes have hypocritically skirted Nuremberg since using them to hang Nazi war criminals. The word for that is hypocrisy. An international court may never work unless it has teeth, and given the deadly competition for dwindling oil resources, there is less chance now than ever to create such a court or system. I hope it turns out that I am wrong in that assessment.
j c grobler said:
As far as I am concerned the American voters had two opportunities to keep this madman out of office. They failed to do so and I feel that they deserve what's coming to them.
The thing is, the first opportunity "to keep this madman out of office" was foiled by the US Supreme Court's unbelievable decision not to count all the votes in Florida. It was ultimately proven that if all of the Florida votes would have been counted, as the Florida Supreme Court wanted to do, Gore would have won. He should have been our President in 2000. SCOTUS selected the madman in the first place, so if anyone is to blame, it is them!
At the second opportunity, Kerry was winning at midnight on election day in 2004, but by 2 a.m., Bush had somehow magically overtaken him, by as much as 7-8 percent in some places. The exit polls and the final results of the 2004 elections were totally out of synch. This is so suspicious that it's surprising that we didn't have international election officials investigating our stolen election in 2004. We have become a banana republic, and no one wants to see it because we're the USA and supposedly fighting for freedom and democracy in the world so how can we possibly have people who are fiddling our elections??? But it happened. Hopefully, people like Brad Freedman over at The Brad Blog will have raised enough awareness of the dangers of electronic voting machines (that can be hacked in order to overturn election results in the blink of an eye with no one ever knowing about it) that electronic voting machines will be banned and future elections cannot be stolen anymore. The Dems should have won by a much greater margine in 2006, BTW, but because of the fiddling of the machines, they just scraped into a majority.
Most of the people in the USA oppose the current regime. It hasn't been showing up as dramatically in the elections because of these hackable machines that have been hacked in favor of the GOP.
marain...
I am in favor of a new National Convention --which the founders foresaw, in fact, advocating "regular" such conventions. Such a convention could mandate either a direct popular election of the President utilizing a "range voting" system AND mandatory paper ballots.
At the very least the phrase:
MANDATORY, HUMAN-READABLE PAPER BALLOTS
Should become a mantra that will put voting machine crookery out of business.
len said ...
I am in favor of a new National Convention --which the founders foresaw, in fact, advocating "regular" such conventions.
I would like to hear more about this. How would it work? Would the decisions of this convention be legally binding? Could this convention make decisions about things in addition to direct popular election of the president and paper ballots? If it could be legal, and if its decisions could be recognized as legally binding and go beyond election and voting matters, maybe it would be a way to get some things done that are really needed that the current elected officials don't appear to want to touch (e.g., impeachment and prosecution of elected officials).
marain...
Indeed, the people can hold a new national convention. Am pressed for time right now. Will post a most detailed response. I had written a couple of articles on the issue of the new national convnetion, but may update them and raise new issues. Look for the new post. It will have "national convention" in the title.
Hey Len,
If I fail to win the congressional seat, I will join your effort to bring Bush and his cronies to War Crimes Justice. That my friend is not a promise but a gaurantee!!!!
THE KANGAROOS HAVE LEFT
´Tis fun to shoot at helpless foes--
So some of us believe--
At captive birdies, bucks and does,
Tension for to relieve.
´Tis also sporting to attack
Unarmed civilians in
A far-off land (who said "Iraq"?)
But with the proper spin.
To shoot a buddy in the face
Is manly exercise,
O woebegotten human race--
your world so full of lies.
´Tis whispered here and there the words
"War crimes tribunal" but
The kangaroos have thinned their herds,
Their courts of justice shut.
´Tis nothing left but anarchy
And wholesale disarray:
´Tis best to learn chicanery
Wherefore to rule the day
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