Bush: Torturer-in-Chief
Law Professor Marjorie Cohn at Jihad Unspun examines the Bush Administration's conflicting legal positions on torture in George Bush: Torturer-in-Chief. She concludes that his actions warrant impeachment. She's not the only one. This week more than 400 legal scholars signed a letter asking Congress to consider impeaching President Bush. If he had more time left in his term, we'd agree. Right now, we think it's easier just to elect John Kerry. But Cohn's article is insightful and well worth a read:
Cloaking themselves in the "War on Terror," Bush and his minions methodically wove an intricate web of deception to convince the American people that Saddam was about to launch the "mushroom cloud," ending civilization as we know it. It was our mission, Bush preached, to save the Iraqis from Saddam-the-torturer. But a telling phrase in Bush’s January 2003 State of the Union Address should have prepared us for the emergence of Bush-the-torturer.
Did Bush commit any crimes?
If Bush knew or should have known about the torture, and failed to stop or prevent it, he could be liable for "command responsibility" if prosecuted under the War Crimes Act or the Torture Statute. A federal court in Miami in July 2002 held two retired Salvadoran generals liable for torture, even though neither had perpetrated or ordered it.
That likely won't happen. Nor will impeachment so close to the election. But read once more some of the charges leveled by Iraqi prisoners against the U.S. As Cohn says, "These accounts do not describe conduct befitting a civilized country."
| < Hostage Paul Johnson: Where's the Body? | New Art in Downtown San Francisco > |