try GW Bush and Cheney for War Crimes?

[craigimass]

They lied and many died.

Should we?

And, if we do, what is the punishment which is doled out to those who are convicted of such a crime?

[WouldaShoulda]

BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAhahahahahahha!!

[PBzeer]

Bad choice craig. Even if he did "lie", he was only using the accepted knowledge of the previous administration, the intelligence community of many nations, and the numerous opinions of most of the members of the Senate.

But, for arguments sake, lets say he did lie. That still isn't a war crime under any treaty, convention, protocol, or tribunal. But then, that's the problem with bumper sticker thinking.

[Sailormon6]

Originally Posted by craigimass

They lied and many died.

Should we?

And, if we do, what is the punishment which is doled out to those who are convicted of such a crime?

Why don't we let history be our guide. Did we criminally prosecute Franklin Roosevelt for putting many thousands of loyal, innocent Japanese-American citizens in prison camps? Did we criminally prosecute Harry Truman for unleashing upon the world the most horrible weapon of mass destruction ever devised until that time? Did we criminally prosecute John Kennedy or Bobby Kennedy for ordering the assassination of Fidel Castro, or for their illegal eavesdropping on Dr. Martin Luther King? Did we criminally prosecute Lyndon Johnson or Robert MacNamara for justifying the Vietnam war with a lie about the Gulf of Tonkin incident, for prosecuting the war incompetently, and for lying to Americans throughout the war? Did we criminally prosecute Richard Nixon, the man who brought the Vietnam war to a reasonably honorable end, while under unrelenting attack by the same Democrats who supported Lyndon Johnson and Robert MacNamara? No, but "we" did hound him out of office for offenses that were certainly no worse than those committed by his Democrat predecessors. When you are thinking about whether or not to criminally prosecute a public official, what standard is your guide? Is it the criminal nature of his actions, or is it his political party affiliation?

If you want to ensure that future public officials will never take a risk, and will always place their own welfare above that of the nation, then prosecute one of them criminally when things don't go well.

[WouldaShoulda]

Haven't you heard??

It's time for change!!

BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAAHAHhahahahahahah!!

[Freesail99]

Originally Posted by Sailormon6

Why don't we let history be our guide. Did we criminally prosecute Franklin Roosevelt for putting many thousands of loyal, innocent Japanese-American citizens in prison camps? Did we criminally prosecute Harry Truman for unleashing upon the world the most horrible weapon of mass destruction ever devised until that time? Did we criminally prosecute John Kennedy or Bobby Kennedy for ordering the assassination of Fidel Castro, or for their illegal eavesdropping on Dr. Martin Luther King? Did we criminally prosecute Lyndon Johnson or Robert MacNamara for justifying the Vietnam war with a lie about the Gulf of Tonkin incident, for prosecuting the war incompetently, and for lying to Americans throughout the war? Did we criminally prosecute Richard Nixon, the man who brought the Vietnam war to a reasonably honorable end, while under unrelenting attack by the same Democrats who supported Lyndon Johnson and Robert MacNamara? No, but "we" did hound him out of office for offenses that were certainly no worse than those committed by his Democrat predecessors. When you are thinking about whether or not to criminally prosecute a public official, what standard is your guide? Is it the criminal nature of his actions, or is it his political party affiliation?

If you want to ensure that future public officials will never take a risk, and will always place their own welfare above that of the nation, then prosecute one of them criminally when things don't go well.

You left out Regan and the Iran-Contra affair .....

[CGMojo]

And you left out Bill Clinton - why don't we prosecute him for talking troop deployments on the phone while getting his brightwork polished by an intern? Isn't that dereliction of duty, if not treason?

[Sailormon6]

Originally Posted by Freesail99

You left out Regan and the Iran-Contra affair .....

I left out a lot of our greatest Presidents, such as Lincoln, who ordered the illegal arrests of tens of thousands of Americans, and Washington, who was, in the eyes of the British government, a terrorist. Almost every President who was ever confronted with a serious crisis during his term in office could arguably have been criminally prosecuted for some crime or another while in office. Since the founding of this nation, Americans have had an unwritten compact with our Presidents that, we won't criminally prosecute them for mistakes made in good faith, in defense of this nation and it's people.

We conservatives didn't insist on criminally prosecuting Bill Clinton, even though his offenses had nothing to do with the defense of this nation or of the American people. He perjured himself for the selfish purpose of obstructing justice in a civil lawsuit seeking money damages from him. Fair-minded people are not going to allow the criminal prosecution of President Bush and Vice-President Cheney for mistakes they might have made in good faith, in defense of this nation and it's people.

[imagine2frolic]

I think Clinton only did what most people do in the act of cheating, they deny it. We got a lot of guilty people all over the world on that lie...whew. Nixon was no more guilty than any Dem, but he just got caught.

Not telling the truth to the American people, and leading over 4k Americans to their death. Not to mention how many wounded, and will never lead a normal life. Not to mention how many Iraqi's in the same catgories. For what ever reason is pretty damned criminal. Prosecute them???????? I don't have an answer for that. Pretty damned shameful though.

Now don't go crying liberal, and all that crap. My belief is that we simply did not belong there. We belong in the mountains of Afghanstan, that's where we belonged with a mission to return with Osama's head on a stick, and nothing less....JMHO.........i2f

[scottyt]

list the war crimes commited in this country, you cant cause there are not any. the president of the united states could declare war on canada, mexico, britan, germany or any one he wants. its what our constitution says, congress can not even tell him no, all they can do is cut of the money to pay for it. then the war can still go on using the normal military budget and stock piles, but it wont last long