war crimes trials for all?

[guyton]

So I was feeling a bit fortunate and reflective today and went and read the text of the Iraq war resolution. It's really quite sad how many factual errors are contained in this bill. It's not very long, I encourage everyone to go read it H. J. RES 114.

But what I'm really having trouble with is ...

In addition to impeaching both Bush and Cheney, must we not also pursue war-crimes charges against each and every senator and representative who voted for this illegal war?

We all would like to be able to say no way -- there are a lot of decent people on that list! And it's not their fault, they were frightened by those nasty Republicans!

But then remember that we have thousands upon thousands of US deaths, and uncounted tens of thousands -- if not hundreds of thousands -- of Iraqi deaths that are a direct result of this vote.

A vote for an illegal "preemptive" war based on lies.

Gullibility is not a defense for murder -- but even if every lie in this bill were true, it would still be an illegal war.

There must be accountability or we are all guilty -- every one of us.

As we feast on turkey and rejoice in our families, pause for a moment and think of the families that we have destroyed and the accountability that we must yet bring to bear.

refs:
2,867 US dead. 46,137 injured
655,000 Iraqi dead because of the war
H J RES 114
House vote on Iraq War
Senate vote on Iraq War

[mike_c]

1. frankly, I think we should, although perhaps through something...

...like a truth and reconciliation commission. But I do think that everyone who voted for the IWR should forfeit their political career. There is no question that the IWR was a direct vote in favor of war against Iraq-- an international crime of aggression, the sort of thing we hung people for at Nuremburg-- part of it specifically authorizes war under the War Powers Resolution of 1974. Congress men and women are not dummies. They can read, or at least their staffs can, and the IWR is not long or complicated. The preamble codifies the major Bush administration lies about Iraq and expresses Congress' acceptance of those lies, and its agreement with them. It was an blank check for war crimes.