Separating the Warlord From His Allies

George Washington's Blog
Sunday, May 18, 2008

It is standard military doctrine to try to separate a warlord from his allies. This is especially true if the warlord is too strong to take on directly. If you can peel away his allies, then that leaves him vulnerable.

Cutting of his supply lines is also vital. If he can't get troops and equipment, he becomes weak quickly.

The Unholy Alliance

As everyone now knows, Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, and the other top boys and girls in the Executive Branch have committed war crimes.

Initially, they launched an illegal war. As the former chief prosecutor of Nuremburg Trials said:

"a prima facie case can be made that the United States is guilty of the supreme crime against humanity, that being an illegal war of aggression against a sovereign nation."

(a lot of constitutional scholars agree with him).

They've also implemented an illegal torture program.

But they couldn't have gotten away with committing those crimes - and continuing to commit them - unless Congress supported and enabled them.

(Article continues below)



Congress not only authorized the use of force, but voted to fund the illegal war again and again to the tune of trillions of dollars.

Congressional leaders also knew about the torture, and yet covered it (and the truth about 9/11) up from the American people.

In other words, Congress has acted as a loyal ally to the warlord in his illegal acts.

Congress is in a Heap of Trouble

Well, guess what? Congress might be liable for war crimes as well as the Bush, Cheney and the boys.

Here's a quick refresher course . . .

Anyone who violates the Geneva Convention by engaging in murder, torture, or inhuman treatment is guilty of a crime under U.S. law. The War Crimes Act of 1996, a federal statute set forth at 18 U.S.C. § 2441, makes it a federal crime for any U.S. national, whether military or civilian, to violate the Geneva Convention. The statute applies not only to those who carry out the acts, but also to those who order it , know about it, or fail to take steps to stop it. The statute applies to everyone, no matter how high and mighty. Indeed, anyone who is a policy-maker who helps create, promote, or justify policies that violate the Geneva Convention is guilty under 18 U.S.C. § 2441. See this, this, this, and this. And the war crimes act has no statute of limitations, which means that a war crimes prosecution can be brought at any time.

Get it? Congress has violated its own war crimes act, making all of the congress peope and Senators -- other than the handful who have taken steps to stop the illegal acts -- war criminals.

So What Should We Do?

We the American people can inform Congress that each and every congress member and Senator who aided and abetted the illegal invasion of Iraq or the illegal torture program is a war criminal.

Then I would suggest offering them amnesty from prosecution for their past illegal actions if they:

(1) Stop the torture; and

(2) Bring the troops home.

Let's give every Congress member and Senator a choice -- to (1) be prosecuted for war crimes or (2) to stop all further commission of war crimes by stopping the illegal war in Iraq, the fake "war on terror", and the barbarian torture program.

Without the support of Congress and its continuing supply of money, troops and equipment, the warlord will not be able to continue to expand his imperial war campaign or his reign of torture and terror.

Of course, the corporate media has also been complicit in the war crimes by parroting the White House's lies, covering up the truth, and drumming up support for both the illegal invasion and the nature and extent of the torture program.

I think the owners and top executives of the mainstream media corporations should also be given the same choice: Face war crime prosecution or start reporting the truth.

Click here to discuss this story in our forum Yahoo! MyWeb Del.icio.us Digg Reddit Print Email This Page to: