If Bush and Cheney were on death row, why would the jihadists get pissed-off?

[Usrename]

There has been a lot of debate about whether or not to pursue justice against Bush and Cheney. Many people, including Obama, make the argument that if a public airing of their crimes is made, that this public disclosure alone will upset the radical Islamofascist so much that they will go on a huge terroristic killing spree that will threaten our national security and the world. Some of their acts are really that hideous. So hideous that they cannot be prosecuted for fear that these horrible acts might become public knowledge, and the mere mention of them is so disturbing that it will condemn us to unimaginable violence from our enemies.

Or something to that effect, do I have that right? I don’t claim to really understand the rationale or the argument all that well.

There is another point of view that might be a lot more intuitive, one which seems to make a lot more sense to me. It seems more likely to me that bringing Bush and Cheney (and some of the other monsters from their administration) to justice would tend to pacify, rather than incite, the terrorist threat to the country. Is there something wrong with my thinking here?

It’s not unheard of for crime bosses who conspire to murder witnesses to face the death penalty when they are brought to justice, is it?

Well, here we have a case of Bush/Cheney and their cronies conspiring to torture witnesses in an effort to obstruct justice, and in the process dozens of these witnesses were tortured to death. It’s a capital crime, punishable by death.

Conspiring to torture someone only carries a ten year maximum sentence under U.S. code, even if the victim dies. So, obviously, the obstruction of justice involving the killing of witnesses is the way to go here. Send Dubya to death chamber, Lord know he’s done it enough to other folks, including his despotic counterpart, the former President of Iraq who was hanged.

They were torturing and murdering witnesses in order to try and cover up their war crimes and their crimes against the peace and perhaps to also obscure the identity of the criminals behind the 9/11 attacks. In any event, sending some of them of them to death row would be a warning to the next group that aspires to create a new Pearl Harbor or resorts to a regime of torture in order to gin up an excuse for war and occupation.


:rant:

[Smith_3]

1. Weird isn't it? All the time the left was accused of "appeasement"

for "trying not to offend the terrorists". Now we don't prosecute Bush so "the terrorists won't be offended".

[Usrename]

2. That's what I'm talkin about.

Exactly, that's another weird contradiction. It seems so crazy, yet so many are stuck on that argument.

[Fumesucker]

5. +1 n/t

[flor-de-jasmim]

3. hmmm, I assumed it was not to radicalize even further the right wing in the US

[Fumesucker]

4. The right wing in the US is already assassinating doctors..

You really can't get a lot more radical than that.

[Usrename]

8. I'm not quite sure how much more radical they can get.

Torturing witnesses to death and all and disappearing people, it doesn't get much more despotic than that, does it?

[Buzz Clik]

6. This is something I had not heard until this moment:

"Many people, including Obama, make the argument that if a public airing of their crimes is made, that this public disclosure alone will upset the radical Islamofascist so much that they will go on a huge terroristic killing spree that will threaten our national security and the world."

Can you direct me to some sort of source for Obama saying that he won't prosecute Bush/Cheney for fear of upsetting "the radical Islamofascist"?

[Usrename]

7. Maybe you can explain it to me then.

What part of this is wrong?

What do you think is the REAL reason that he reversed himself about the release of the torture photos? He said:

"The publication of these photos would not add any additional benefit to our understanding of what was carried out in the past by a small number of individuals. In fact, the most direct consequence of releasing them, I believe, would be to further inflame anti-American opinion and to put our troops in greater danger."

[Buzz Clik]

9. Publishing photos is hardly equivalent to prosecutiong Bush and Cheney.

You were very clear in your post about Obama's reluctance to prosecute.

[Usrename]

10. So, now you are aguing that Obam is anxious to prosecute.

Link?