Two Years of Bush Officials Looking Over their Shoulders

Before I get started I have to say that Obama's choice of Daley for his Chief of Staff is it. $#^!& Obama. He just shot himself in the foot.

Now, back to our regularly scheduled programming....

Remember two years ago, when Obama was coming into office, we wondered if the new administration would hold Bush administration officials accountable for their crimes? Crimes like illegal wiretapping and surveillance, placing Republican Party operatives into US attorney positions in line for future federal judge positions, various instances of obstructing justice and misleading Congress, like intentionally under estimating the cost of the prescription drug law? Oh yea, starting a war of aggression on false pretext, again misleading Congress, renditions, torture. The only one we ever hear about these days is torture as if all the other supposedly 269 broken laws are just too petty to deal with.

All of the above citations are from the Jan/Feb 2009 issue of Mother Jones. Karen Greenberg wrote an article called "The People vs. Dick Cheney," that raised the question and the options for "bringing the Bushies to account."

Just to look back a little, here are the ways Greenberg identified Bush could be brought to account:

• A Rouge District Attorney: Based on a legal strategy by the famous prosecutor, Vincent Bugliosi, any county of the approximately 2,700 district attorneys, at any time in the future (multiply 2,700 by 10 as different individuals are cycled thru over the coming years) could prosecute Bush for the deaths of soldiers in the DA's county that died in Iraq.
• Ticked-off Lawyers: Bush administration lawyers, John Yoo, David Addington, Alberto Gonzolez, Jay Bybee brought shame to the profession. Many in the legal community would like to re-establish the credibility of the profession. If they can't make criminal charges stick, they can seek to have Bush lawyers de-barred, and in the case of Jay Bybee, impeached from the federal judgeship he currently holds.
• The United Nations: Secretary General Kofi Annan said, explicitly, the Iraq war was illegal. The UN could find crimes were committed, as it did in the case of US dirty war against Nicaragua (mining its harbors); however, enforcement of the findings lies with the UN Security Council. Still, it's a way of bringing out the facts.
• International Criminal Court: Another long shot, but it is a potential forum.
• The Garzon Factor: Spanish judge Baltizar Garzon went after Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet, having him arrested in Britain. The same could occur some day to various Bush officials. We saw the gears of that process start turning on CIA agents involved in renditions and Guantanamo torture, only to be stopped under intense political pressure according to recently leaked State Department cables.

Many of these avenues don't require Obama to do anything except stay out of the way. A gutsy local DA, a determined foreign judge could start a legal process. Each simple, incremental step would stand on its own merits, leading to its own logical conclusion, taking on a life of its own. Bush officials know this, which is why they've hired lawyers, bought legal insurance, etcetera. They will live the rest of their lives looking over their shoulders.

Prosecute Bush - A Podcast Drum Beat

For about two years I've been producing segments for the GDAE podcast that "beat the drum on prosecuting Bush administration officials for their crimes." I've generated nearly 40 segments, each about 1-3 minutes.

Topics have included:

• Law Professor Francis Boyle describes the complaint he filed in January 2010 with the International Criminal Court.
• Bush war-crimes-Prosecution Theater: A Play called "In the Loop", by Armando Iannucci.
• "Arrest Blair dot Com"... as in British prime minister Tony Blair?
• The Chilcot Inquiry into Britain's role in the Iraq war, a window into a US inquiry.
• Prosecute Bush: Evidence of 'the Possible': The Case of Peru's Alberto Fujimori.
  

Check them out at GDAE Podcast.

Prosecute Bush Crimes

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Prosecution of Bush Officials

It took decades for Chile's Agusto Pinichet and Cambodian officials to face justice. The wheels of justice might turn slowly, but with our conviction in the principles, and our voices, we can ensure they grind their way to conclusion.

The increase in the volume of emails the I'm receiving on the prosecution of Bush and others for serious crimes is increasing. E-Mail titles include the following:

• "Criminal Prosecution and Accountability"
  
• "Bush Tortured"
  
• "50 Top war criminals who need to be prosecuted"
  
• "Holder Warned that Limited Investigation and Selective Prosecution would Violate the Law"
  

On the last item, the Convention Against Torture (CAT), signed by President Reagan, requires Attorney General Holder to investigate and hold accountable all those involved in torture. A letter signed by 150 organizations has been sent to Attorney General Holder. The Justice Department's credibility, and thus its legitimacy, is on the line.

The list goes on, and the momentum builds....

For Your Convenience:

• Contact the Broadcast Media
  
• Contact the Newspapers
  
• Contact the US Senate
  
• Contact the House of Representatives

Beating the Drum on Bush Prosecution

It's encouraging to see Antemedus beating the drum on seeking the investigation and criminal prosecution of Bush administration officials. I feel strongly about this because failure to prosecute the crimes of high officials creates a sense of impunity that unravels the fabric of civil society.

For that reason, I beat the drum on the prosecution of Bush administration officials in every episode of my GDAE Podcast. As I've done so, I've noticed a growing level of activity on the subject. This is a hopeful sign, because there truly is power in numbers.

Below is a rough transcript of the drum beat in Episode 17 of GDAE Podcast:

The increase in the volume of emails the I'm receiving on the prosecution of Bush and other for serious crimes is increasing, with titles like "Criminal Prosecution and Accountability," "Bush Tortured," "50 Top war criminals who need to be prosecuted," and "Holder Warned that Limited Investigation and Selective Prosecution would Violate the Law."

This last email explains that the Convention Against Torture (CAT), signed by President Reagan, requires him to investigate and hold accountable all those involved in torture. A letter signed by 150 organizations has been sent to Attorney General Holder. The Justice Department's credibility, and thus its legitimacy, is on the line. The list goes on, and the momentum builds....

Now What? Do we Prosecute?

Another American hero is born: Susan Crawford.

"We tortured Qahtani," Susan Crawford said in an interview with the Washington Post published on Wednesday. "His treatment met the legal definition of torture. And that's why I did not refer the case" for prosecution.

Crawford, a retired judge who also worked in the Reagan administration, is the first senior Bush administration official responsible for reviewing practices at Guantanamo to publicly state that a detainee was tortured.

Go to Change.gov and send a note to Team Obama. They really need to hear our collective voices. If the Bush people have impunity, the fabric of civilization will unravel.

Psssst... Do Something

• Contact the Broadcast Media
  
• Contact the Newspapers
  
• Contact the US Senate
  
• Contact the House of Representatives

Sources:

U.S. official says Guantanamo detainee was tortured

It's Ultimately So Sad

Now we must struggle to "make the world a better place," knowing that we have so much to over come just to get back to where we were eight years ago. But the reality is that Bush has done irreversible damage to so many aspects of our existence. * sigh * I guess it's time to get to work.

Psssst... Do Something

• Contact the Broadcast Media
  
• Contact the Newspapers
  
• Contact the US Senate
  
• Contact the House of Representatives

October 2000 Flashback

On October 3, 2000, while debating Al Gore, George W. Bush said he'd commit troops only with an "exit strategy," and he'd be "very careful about using our troops as nation builders."

Sources:

Mother Jones Magazine,"Chronicle of a War Fortold," September October 2006 Issue.

Bush Prosecution in 30-Seconds

Famed prosecutor Victor Bugliosi sums up his closing arguments to prosecute George Bush for murder in thirty seconds.



The charges: Conspiracy to mislead the nation to war in Iraq. Murder of soldiers who Bush sent to war under false pretenses.

Sources:

DemocracyNow! Citing Iraq War, Renowned Attorney Vincent Bugliosi Seeks “The Prosecution of George W. Bush for Murder”, July 13, 2008.