Justice Swerved: Bush Guilty in Kuala Lumpur

Former President George Bush and seven from his administration were found guilty of war crimes in a symbolic Kuala Lumpur tribunal of conscience. Included in the guilty convictions are former Vice President Dick Cheney; Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld ;members of the Bush/Cheney administration legal counselors Alberto Gonzales, David Addington; Defense Dept counsel William Haynes II and Justice Dept. lawyers Jay Bybee and John Yoo.

Victims of torture told a panel of five judges in Kuala Lumpur of their suffering at the hands of US soldiers and contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan. Among the evidence, Briton Moazzam Begg, an ex-Guantanamo detainee, said he was beaten, put in a hood and left in solitary confinement. Iraqi woman Jameelah Abbas Hameedi said she was stripped and humiliated in the notorious Abu Ghraib prison.

The Kuala Lumpur War Crimes Commission Commission is a symbolic non-governmental entity established in 2007 by former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohmad.

Tribunal president judge Tan Sri Lamin Mohd Yunus said the eight accused were also individually and jointly liable for crimes of torture in accordance with Article 6 of the Nuremberg Charter. "The US is subject to customary international law and to the principles of the Nuremberg Charter and exceptional circumstances such as war, instability and public emergency cannot excuse torture."

The Kuala Lumpur Tribunal findings will be publicized and submitted to the International Criminal Court, United Nations and the Security Council. Tribunal members hope nations will be reluctant to invite “war criminals” from the Bush years to their countries. Maybe expecting a vigorous effort to deal with Bush/Cheney administration’s possible war crimes here in the US was always a quaint concept. But for now justice has swerved, at least symbolically to Malaysia.

Extremely stupid and incredibly close

Cheney,still the hero of Vermont Northeast Kingdom's Caledonian Record?
This is Vermont Caledonian-Record’s Sept 11th editorial plea that we heed the warnings of Dick Cheney.

“Former Vice President Dick Cheney is right when he warns that those who wish to hamstring our military and our intelligence agencies would cripple the country's ability to defend itself.”

In the Caledonian Record’s remembrance of that day Cheney’s warning stood out among the standard “he keep us safe” nonsense .It stood out more than their conveniently failing to remember the anthrax attacks on Vermont Sen.Leahy and others when claiming Bush kept us safe after Sept. 11th. Why let the facts get in the way of the “He kept us safe” meme? Torture,open ended detention , two wars, eight years and still stupid.
Maybe it’s just a little Caledonian nostalgia and a wish on their part to go back to the glory days of 2003 when the National Review could gush in all seriousness “What of our vice president? Is he, too, a "daddy politician"? You bet, as Donald Rumsfeld would say. You get the feeling that things are going to be all right if Mr. Cheney is on the case.”

Some insight from someone that knows………………..

In a recent interviewCol. Lawrence Wilkerson, the former chief of staff to Bush Secretary of State Colin Powel when asked ,

“They started things and had no idea what their ultimate plan was. What, you really intend to hold people forever without charging them with anything?”
Col. Lawrence Wilkerson, said “I’ve come to the conclusion that the man truly is — whether he was that way when I knew him before, when he was Secretary of Defense, I don’t know, that’s not at issue with me any more — the man now is just crazy,"

also posted on GreenMountainDaily

It is torture

-- I'll put it to you this way, you give me a water board, Dick Cheney and one hour, and I'll have him confess to the Sharon Tate murders.
Jesse Ventura on Larry King Live
I am not a big fan of Jeese the Body Ventura but how can one avoid a great quote like this ?
Video here One hour with Cheney