Is the Bush Administration admitting they committed war crimes?

Bjorn Against

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Mon Aug-14-06 05:24 PM
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Is the Bush Administration admitting they committed war crimes?

Edited on Mon Aug-14-06 06:15 PM by MN Against Bush

I read an article in the Minneapolis Star Tribune today that made my jaw drop, and I can not believe this has not gotten more attention on the blogs. Read it and tell me that this is not hugely significant.

Editorial: Do not weaken War Crimes Act
Some in high places are nervous they may face prosecution.
Published: August 14, 2006

In 1949, the United States ratified the Geneva Conventions, which set forth minimal standards for the treatment of war prisoners. In 1996 and 1997, Congress enacted and expanded the War Crimes Act, which makes it a crime to violate the conventions. From 2002 to 2006, the Bush administration insisted the conventions did not apply to foreigners captured in Afghanistan. In June, the Supreme Court ruled that the conventions do apply. This month the administration drafted changes it will propose to the War Crimes Act that would decriminalize most of the conduct used to degrade and humiliate detainees at Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib.

According to the Associated Press, which obtained a copy of part of the plan, "One section of the draft would outlaw torture and cruel treatment, but it does not contain prohibitions from Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions against 'outrages upon personal dignity, in particular humiliating and degrading treatment.' " Another section, it reported, would apply the legislation retroactively.

If you'd bet that this is about senior military and civilian officials of the Bush administration getting concerned that they might be prosecuted, you'd probably win the pot. That is certainly how it looks: Stripped of their "Geneva Conventions don't apply" defense, officials involved in authorizing a whole set of aggressive interrogation techniques now worry about being forced to spend humiliating, degrading time in the court dock.

This effort to rewrite the War Crimes Act would be outrage enough for that reason, but there are even larger risks: The United States would be seen as de-ratifying part of the conventions, thus giving every country, every tinhorn leader justifiable reason to humiliate U.S. soldiers they capture in the future. Just as problematic is the additional tarnish this would throw on the U.S. reputation among the world's people who believe in fair play, in the rules of war and in the United States' leadership of the brigade pushing those good causes. Any way you cut it, this is a bad idea. Congress should give it a quick burial.

http://www.startribune.com/561/story/609920.html

Now why would the Bush Administration be pushing to weaken the War Crimes Act and applying the legislation retroactively if they were not guilty of war crimes? As far as I can see this basically amounts to an admission of guilt. The provisions that they want to change are provisions that we know they violated, and these actions show us that they know they violated the law and are now trying to protect themselves.

Many of us have been saying that Bush is a war criminal for years now, but the corporate media has given them a free pass and thus many people in the general public have never even had the words "war criminals" cross their minds. With this however, I think we can convince those people that the Bush Administration is in fact made up of war criminals. We can not allow let this legislation to be pushed through quietly, we need to scream from the rooftops in order to ensure the public knows what is going on. If this legislation fails, then it is very possible we will some day see these people face charges. Do not give up hope, this shows the administration is terrified.

On edit: I usually don't ask this, but could you please recommend this post. I don't hear very much talk about this issue at all, and if we do not get people talking about this now it could be too late. The fate of this bill could determine whether or not Bush is prosecuted for war crimes, if you want to see that trial then we must stop the changes from passing.