gnomic says:

Well, Rummy’s not going to Octoberfest anymore…

Josh says:

The German prosecutors have not made any decision. whether Rumsfeld shall be investigated or not.

The plaintiffs are Iraqis, not Germans. The plaintiffs are supported by an American NGO, not a German NGO. They WANT to have a criminal investigation in Germany, but it is doubtful whether they will get one.

They have not even contacted the German prosecutors yet. They have just issued a press release, picked up by TIME magazine.

German prosecutors have dismissed similar cases in the past.

This is explained in more detail here:
http://atlanticreview.org/archives/484-guide.html

Leland says:

Whatever! That’s like charging a chief of police who was home in bed while a couple of graveyard shift cops kicked the crap out of an obnoxious drunk. Give me a break!

However, this idea is not new. Four years ago, John J. Nance wrote a book called Headwind about an attempt to arrest an ex-president traveling overseas. The charges were war crimes. It’s a good story, well researched and presents some valid possibilities in today’s incredibly messed up world.

Andrew says:

The Germans actually wanted to arrest Rumsfeld before — for Abu Gharib, I believe — and he was concerned enough to cancel a speaking engagement there. They dropped the investigation because they felt the US was doing a good enough job of investigating it on its own.

More likely than the German thing is this from today’s AP story:

The Democratic congressman who will investigate the Bush administration’s running of the government says there are so many areas of possible wrongdoing, his biggest problem will be deciding which ones to pursue.

(Via the Merc.)

Leland says:

“The Democratic congressman who will investigate the Bush administration’s running of the government says there are so many areas of possible wrongdoing, his biggest problem will be deciding which ones to pursue.”

More fantasies from a group of people that couldn’t see Bush doing anything right even if he rescued a drowning child, gave CPR and saved its life.

You know something, if both sides don’t give up the partisan bullshit we’re going to pull this country apart.

The Albatross says:

Sorry baby, it wouldn’t be GERMANY that wants to bring up Rummy for war crimes.
That would be a Saudi who went shopping for a court willing to try it.

gnomic says:

I don’t think that its partisan to point out that this administration is advocating Torture, attempting to revoke habeous corpos (something that even this supreme court will overturn), engaging in illegal wiretapping, and otherwise violating his oath of office to protect the Constitution. It is decidely American to point these thing out and debate the issue, not to arrest someone wouthout charges, removed them from American soil, hold them indefinately and prevent them from having a lawyer unless they first confess. These are foundational to the very behavior that the founding fathers sought to prevent.

I could care less which party this President belongs to - or which party that this corrupt congress belongs to. They deserve far worse that to be voted out of office. And if this group behaves the same way, I’ll say the same thing about them, unlike the many people who though Clinton should have been impeach for lying about sex but thing that lying to the American public about the war is OK.

Leland says:

How do you know they are lying?

Leland says:

*grrrs at premature post and continues*

How do you know they are lying? Have you been present at each and every intelligence briefing? Do you have a direct pipeline into the CIA so you are up to speed on each and every threat to this country? If you’ve got all the answers, why aren’t you on the JCS? Maybe you should take your expertise to the public sector and run for office yourself?

Clinton and blue dress have nothing to do with this. He lied under oath in a matter that should never have been brought that far and got caught. Too bad he didn’t look straight in the camera lens and say “It’s none of your business what two consenting adults do in private” rather then declaring “I never had sex with that woman!”

You, as most other left thinking people, are trying to confuse the domestic civil rights within this country with the rules of engagement in a war situation. And no, the Geneva convention does not apply here. It seems Al Queda and Co. are not signers on that treaty and have yet to demonstrate any interest in following it.

If we have to make life miserable for a couple hundred slime balls in order to stop the killing then so be it.

The wire tapping of overseas calls to and from foreign agents has always been legal without a warrant. This is especially true when those calls are going in and out of known hostile areas and/or are being conducted with hostile foreign agents. (That’s a terrorist for those of you that don’t get that.) I did the research on that and posted it somewhere in the comments on this very blog.

I haven’t got a clue where you’re going with the habeas corpus reference, so I’ll have to leave that one alone.

You and those who believe the nonsense you post here got your touchy feely majority elected. Hopefully they won’t lower our collective pants in front of the terrorists far enough to get us hit again.

The next attack will make Sept. 11th look like a traffic accident. I hope and pray the warm fuzzy Carter style approach works. But deep down I know it will not.

gnomic says:

Lying about the war: I’m referring to the fact that the civil war in Iraq was predicted well before the start of this war, as well as the lack of troop strength issue that prevent us from holding the ground, yet the “media” is at fault for not painting a rosy picture. But I can understand your confusion about which lies I’m referring to; thier are so many to choose from, from WMDs to the Iraq-Al Queada links that never existed before we gave them a new base of operation.

As for the Geneva Convention (GC), you might try reading it rather than spouting the administration lies. Signing the GC obligates the signatories to how they will treat prisoners of war including those that do not fall into a clear soldier category. It is unilateral and does not require that the other parties in a conflict sign the document.

And I could care less if we drop convicted terrorists into a wood chipper; I’m concerned that our violation of the GC puts our soldiers at risk in all future combat engagements.

You are correct that wiretapping oversees has been legal, but it has occurred with judicial oversight when it involved wiretapping on America soil as required by FISA. I don’t objected to the wiretapping per se, I objected to the lack of oversight.

Habeous Corpus is a constitutional right of all Americans to demand to be told what crime they have committed, what evidence the government has, and ensures the right of due process. The military Commissions act revokes this right, a clear violation of the US Constitution which allows its temporary suspension under certain circumstances, but does not allow for its revocation except through amendment. More on this can be found here: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15220450/

And my “touchy feely majority” was not elected. The dems do not represent my views either, but they look a damn sight better that the corrupt Bush adminstration. But if they are miserably corrupt as the last group, I’ll be calling for thier ouster as well.

And I fear our government a lot more than I do the terrorists. The terrorists are attacking America and have managed to kill a few thousand of us. Terrible? Absolutly, but not a serious threat to the republic. This adminstration has revoked our raights and freedoms, championed torture, eleminated or ignored due process, ingored international laws and treaties, and put American Troops of forign soil without clear objectives and subject to the control of a foriegn leader. Our kids are bravely fighting and dying amidst a civil war for what pupose? To stop terrorism? Aint gonna happen. Yes, the terrorists are coming here and something big and bad will happen in the future. But fighting a never-ending war in Iraq will only bleed us dry (in both money and lives) and preventing us from using our military effectively where it will make a real difference.

I am a responsible US citizen engaging in my right to free speach and questioning my government. Quite trying to demonize me for doing so. I am not liberal, left, right, or any other label which you choose to use instead of facts and reasoned discussion.

(All- if thier are lots of spelling errors here, I apologize - can’t find my glasses tonight)

KK says:

Well, Andrew, your post is truly funny (really) but if I were German I would consider to ask you why in 2006 you think there is anything special about Germans trying someone for war crimes versus any other nation.

ricgal says:

You know, Andrew, I’m glad I followed the link and read the comments.

Up here in Canada we live in a laisse-faire society that will allow the
government to do far more in invading privacy. A statistic or comment I read
several years ago suggested that there are twice as many wiretaps per
capita in Canada than there in the states.

The authorities get their warrant and tell the telephone company to
do it, and the telco turns on the tap right in the switch, so you don’t
know if it is done.

Elsewhere, you commented on a new article that said atheism killed more
people than religion.

It is amazing that people do not recognize atheism as a religion. It is
a religion that states, I want to be free of God, or, I am my own god,
or, I control my own destiny.

So, while you can dispute the assertion that atheism is a force
responsible for the killing of millions, I think that you do have to
recognize that atheists in general possess a lot of smugness and pride,
and if the do find themselves in front of a Living God on a judgment
day, you want to be sure that that God will have enough evidence to
convict them of that pride and rebellion.

He will look at the record for each man and woman, and show them where
they fell short of their own ideals. Then he will show each one his
nail-scarred hands and ankles, and say that they chose not to respond
to his offer of forgiveness.

So if you want to be an atheist, that is your choice.
Or you can go back to the faith of your ancestors. Jesus was a Jew
as well as God, and the God of the Christians is the God of the Jews.

Sure, there has been infighting between the two, which came to a
crisis in 70 A.D., after which time the Jewish leaders rejected the
christians, the christians ( Church of Rome especially ) formulated
replacement theology ( the church replacing the Jewish people as
the recipients of all God’s blessing ) and the church holding only
Jews as responsible for killing Jesus.

All that pain and hurt belong to past generations. There is new pain
and hurt happening. Terrorists are trying to destroy Israel. And
Christians in increasing numbers are praying for the peace of
Jerusalem.

It is not the Christians attacking Jerusalem and trying to force
their religion on its people. It is the Islamics who claim Jerusalem
as their own, who will be instrumental in bringing the world against
Jerusalem. All this that is going to happen to Jerusalem was foretold
in the Jewish prophets as well as the Apocalypse of John ( the book
of Revelation ) and we are seeing the first taste of this happening.

Remember, God has not rejected Jerusalem. He will allow it to be
attacked, but he knows there will come a time when those who remain
will call out to him. When they stop rejecting him, he will answer,
even as he did in the past, and more so. He will rescue his people
and he will fight for his people.

The Jews have always been his people, and in the end the Christians
are joined in with the believing Jews into one body. In God’s eye,
we are one people.

The interesting part is in watching how this all plays out.

ricgal,
Winnipeg MB

Bob says:

Rumsfeld,Perl,Krystal and Wolfowitz should all be put on trial for war crimes.Who would have thought that Germany has come so far from WWII and we have slipped so far.It makes me puke every time I think what Bush and company has done to dispoil our once great nation.My family did not give there lives in WWII to have some Texas outlaws acting like the to destroy it.You can bet that’s not dew roling down the cheeks of the Stature of Liberty,but the tears of our conscious these people have taken from us.

On C-SPAN I saw John Yoo,an archteck of the Patriot Act,when ask to look at the section of Constitution dealing with the rules of trials he said,…”ya I’v seen the thing”.That Thing!What distain for the Constition this bastard has.

A fed up american
Bob