Re: U.S. drops war crimes immunity bid

On Fri, 2 Jul 2004 cpratt-UYko1UTVIqz2fBVCVOL8/[email protected] wrote:

> Eww. BH vomit, all over my inbox.

Yeah, she's back up, for now.  another thunderstorm could take her down,
again.  hope for fair weather.

> ...
>
> BBC:
> http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3834089.stm
>
> US war crimes immunity bid fails

good!

The Grunts of Empire
by Fran Shor
http://www.counterpunch.org/shor03152003.html

...

Clearly, the Bush Administration is worried about potential war crimes
embedded in their plans for war on Iraq. From the air strategy of "shock
and awe" where thousands of missiles would bombard Baghdad in the first 48
hours, killing massive numbers of innocent civilians, to the use of
landmines, bio-chemical and even "low-level" radiation weapons, Washington
policy-makers are aware that military strategists and their troops could
be found guilty of war crimes by the new International Criminal Court.
George W. may have even pronounced such an inadvertent judgment when he
cautioned Iraq's generals they would be "held to account as war
criminals...if they take innocent life, if they destroy infrastructure..."
(New York Times, 2/26/03, p.1) Perhaps this also explains why the Bush
Administration has shunned the International Criminal Court and negotiated
deals with individual countries to resist turning over any US military
members to the Court.

Such concern for individual troops is more a commitment to waging
unfettered war without moral scruples than protecting the well-being of US
soldiers. In fact, as one reviews how US soldiers have been treated by the
Pentagon in recent wars, one is left with the distinct impression that the
Washington policy-makers don't give a damn about their troops. In the
Vietnam War, the average grunt was used as bait in the infamous
"search-and destroy" strategy, susceptible to high percentages of friendly
fire and at times doused by the carcinogenic herbicide, Agent Orange. In
the Gulf War, US soldiers were injected with experimental anti-nerve gas
agents and flawed anthrax vaccine. On top of that, they were also caught
up in the residues of dangerous depleted uranium. No wonder that the
Pentagon refuses to acknowledge the Gulf War Syndrome!

...
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