Cheney's not a war criminal
Not even evil.Neither was Sharon. Nor Arafat. Nor Gerry Adams. Nor Curtis LeMay. Nor Mohammed Atta. Nor, dare I say it, Osama Bin Laden..
They were all responsible for doing terrible things to other human beings: torturing them, incinerating them in a Birmingham pub , vaporizing a hundred thousand of them with one bomb . Or 9/11. But not because they are evil. They all thought they were doing good; defending their own people by attacking their enemy.
We can deplore their choices. I do. Mostly.I Agreed with Hiroshima. But to characterize them as criminals is to adopt another version of their own behavior :ceasing to see them as human beings , just cardboard characters in the long running morality play in our own heads. Enter the devil, Stage Left.
Criticize them for faulty strategies. Or for employing means that are disproportionate to their ends.But not for being motiveless villains.
And stop clamoring for a War Crimes Tribunal. Or a Congressional hearing. Or execution. For someone who has done the same sort of cruel thing that all leaders have always done. .
No.
October 10, 2009 1:49 PM | Reply | Permalink
And Also, No!
Flavius you've got to be kidding me...
you suggest that it's fine for all of us to break every law and forego human decency at all costs as long as we can find a good motive for it.
Heck we could use 'overpopulation' as a motive for a slew of crimes and even excuses to do nothing to prevent death from disease, murder, and genocide all over the world.
Give me a break!
Our country will not regain integrity until there is accountability.
Republicans have long professed to be the party of accountability... pull yourself up by your own bootstraps (if you're poor and don't have connections). Stand accountable for your actions(if you're poor and don't have connections).
Law and decency are necessary to even the playing field in a war of classes.
Bush an Cheney did just about everything they could to run this country into the ground while bolstering the profits and power of friends...
Every thing they did deserves MAJOR scrutiny!
October 10, 2009 3:13 PM | Reply | Permalink
No.
No.Not that it's fine but that it's what always happens. And then the winners try the losers.
October 10, 2009 5:05 PM | Reply | Permalink
Criticize them for faulty strategies. Or for employing means that are disproportionate to their ends.But not for being motiveless villains.
(a) Being a war criminal involves conducting war in a way that has been deemed criminal, or involves entering a war unjustly (generally going to war for purposes other than defending one's self or others from aggression, or removing a clear and present threat).
(b) I don't think that anyone argues that the people you mentioned were motiveless villains. They argue that they violate decency in achieving their ends.
October 10, 2009 2:36 PM | Reply | Permalink
October 10, 2009 5:08 PM | Reply | Permalink
just ran across an interesting quote on another thread, seems almost like it's in the wrong place and should be here:
http://tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com/talk/blogs/chthonic/2009/10/regarding-recent-democratic-be.php#comment-3629632
October 10, 2009 5:38 PM | Reply | Permalink
Euripides?
I was distracted by some of the references in the post. Particularly the KBR woman who was raped by her co workers and denied recourse under some
Kafka like rationale.
October 10, 2009 8:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
no no no no no
you got this wrong
DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW MUCH MONEY THIS ASSHOLE MADE OFF THE TWO WARS AND THEN THE TAX CUTS FOR THE RICH?
IM DONE
October 10, 2009 6:12 PM | Reply | Permalink
Ditto DD
October 10, 2009 7:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
You're right. I made a mistake in saying he's not even Evil.
He is. But not a War Criminal (which I think is almost an oxymoron). And not even because of his malign influence on interrogation practices. Which I deplore.But which I think are well within the range of normal war time practices.
My underlying theme,as I'm sure you understand, is that the things that are routinely done in war
are so routinely terrible that War Crime tribunals are always "Victor's Justice".
In the case of the Holocaust I have no doubt it was a Crime Against Humanity and those involved merited their Justice at Nuremburg. Because it had nothing to do with the war. It wasn't an act aimed at defeating an enemy which could be expected to do terrible things if it were victorious. Which every society seems able to convince itself,underthe ticking bomb ,or some other pretence, justifies doing terrible things to another human being.
October 10, 2009 7:57 PM | Reply | Permalink