Boston Globe: America's mess, not Bush's

[unhappycamper]

America's mess, not Bush's
By James Carroll | May 31, 2005

MUCH AS Democrats and liberals hate to admit it, the Bush disaster did not begin with him. That he swatted aside the structures of international law as a mode of responding to Osama bin Laden was prepared for by Washington's habit, begun in the Reagan years, of dismissing international courts, ignoring treaties, and refusing to meet obligations to the United Nations and other transnational bodies.

The International Criminal Court, just coming into existence as America's war on terrorism was mobilized, fulfilled the impulse to replace revenge with adjudication. Completing the Nuremberg legacy, this new court would have been the perfect arena in which to make world historic cases against Al Qaeda, Bin Laden, and Saddam Hussein, but George W. Bush, in one of his first acts as president, had ''unsigned" the ICC treaty.

This momentous act of political destruction had been prepared for, though, by Bill Clinton, who, despite signing the treaty, had never argued for it. Both presidents were protective of the US military because the Pentagon regarded itself as a ready target of ICC prosecution, a fear that seemed paranoid until revelations both that American soldiers routinely abused prisoners in Iraq and high Pentagon officials unilaterally rejected norms set by the Geneva Convention. Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo were epiphanies of a new Pentagon lawlessness, but it was rooted in several decades' worth of dismissal of international law.

MORE

http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2005/05/31/americas_mess_not_bushs/

[liberal N proud]

1. Still trying to pin everything on Clinton - Hog Wash

History will show how big of a failure George W. Bu$h is.
They can lie to the media and the media can help them lie to the people for only so long.

[shance]

2. Isn't it unbelievable how the media will lie for this Administration?

What is so damaging is those who write stories like this refuse to see how removing accountability from those who need to be accountable only creates more wrong doing by those who are inflicting their abuse onto others.

And make no mistake, blaming the victims and those who have done their best to stop this tide of war profiteering while turning a blind eye from the offenders is both immoral and abusive because of its blatant dishonesty and its willingness to essentially overlook the corrupt actions taking place.

[bpilgrim]

3. the CARTOON world view + no mention of WMD's as the 'justification' for

PREVENTIVE WAR this time round.

we shall reap what we sow, TERROR.


peace

[OETKB]

4. The Problem With James Carroll

Mr. Carroll is an equal opportunity moralizer. Events, personal characteristics, the political scene should all be dismissed to trying to figure out why we are where we are. Each administration is suppose to head in the direction of improving our lives. Maybe Mr. Clinton was a bit over political, but at least he tried to moved towards a more peaceful world. Ben Franklin: "Never has there been a good war or a bad peace." Mr. Bush, in true military fashion, did an about face and is leading us back into the caves.

It's hard enough trying to figure out how to make things better for everyone without also trying to measure up to being clairvoyant, perfection itself, and politically persuasive.