When photographs of Iraqi prisoners being systematically tortured and humiliated at Abu Ghraib prison were first published the George W. Bush administration claimed it reflected an administrative problem of a few low-level soldiers exceeding their authority. Mr. Bush reiterated his claim that ‘America does not torture’ and set about prosecuting those so unworldly as to have had their pictures taken committing crimes. However, prior to the release of the photographs Mr. Bush had secured legal judgments from his subordinates in the Justice Department approving what was clearly torture in contravention of the Geneva Conventions to which the U.S. is signatory. Torture in the context of legal documents approving it makes it official U.S. policy for which Mr. Bush is legally culpable. More broadly, the fraudulent ‘facts’ Mr. Bush used to sell his war of ‘pre-emptive self defense’ were a thin veil over the gravest of war crimes, launching aggressive war. Had Mr. Bush been prosecuted for these crimes at Nuremberg he very likely would have been hanged.
Posted on: Fri, 02 Aug 2013 18:31:42 +0000
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