FOCUS: Just Planning War of Aggression IS A War Crime

JUST PLANNING:



Did they make it stick?



JUST THE PLANNING IS A WAR CRIME.

Bush, Cheney, and their neoconster fellow war criminals did way more than plan their war of aggression on Iraq. They did it.

They are doing the same with Syria.

"Democracy," "God," ......., no such mandate can justify war of aggression. No such mandate can justify even planning war of aggression.

War of aggression is illegal and immoral. Period.

IT IS TRIBUNAL TIME IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

I call upon all lawyers, all law enforcement officers, all citizens of stature and means to join together in forming The American War Crimes Tribunal.

Here are the guidelines (thanks to DUer "mod mom" for the reference):

http://www.caii.com/CAIIStaff/Dashboard_GIROAdminCAIIStaff/Dashboard_CAIIAdminDatabase/resources/ghai/toolbox23.htm

"We the People ..." must hold our Nation and our fellow citizens accountable. That is the only path that leads to America being 'the America' we and the world truly want to have as a responsible, lawful partner in advancing the well-being of humanity and the planet.


Peace.

Bang.

Peace u.l.

NGU.

...the Fascist, Fraudulent, Fear-Mongering Bush Regime!

Prosecution will need to disprove all the "Imminent Threat" b.s., which shouldn't be hard given all the generals, military advisors and planners who were all marginalized by Rummie. Just the fact that NO WMDs have been found ought to be enough to get past that point... but it goes to what the Administration Officials believed... which can be hard to prove EVEN IF they made up all the intelligence. They will need military officials to say "We told Bush, Cheney, et al that Iraq was not an imminent threat but they wouldn't listen."

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x5466206

And, then moves to the various "Downing Street" documents including "fixing the intelligence" to the implementation of increased attacks on Iraqi command and control in August, 2002, continuing into the Fall of 2002. For starters.

I think intent and deeds are readily and abundantly demonstrable before March 19, 2003.

Thank you for your insightful comments.


Peace.

WMDgate: Fixing Intelligence Around Policy

Here's a link to the latest:

http://www.theleftcoaster.com/archives/006141.php#more


Peace.

Just askin...

... like VIPS provided to all of us prior to March 19, 2003, your question will certainly require considerable legal and ethical scrutiny during the proceedings of The American War Crimes Tribunal.

For a quick link to key Veteran Intelligence Professionals (VIPS) memoranda to the President of the United States, just check the .pdf file, below.


Peace.

Cheney accused on prisoner abuse
Col Lawrence Wilkerson
Col Wilkerson has been critical of Mr Cheney in the past

A top aide to former Secretary of State Colin Powell has launched a
stinging attack on US Vice-President Dick Cheney over abuse of
prisoners by US troops.

Col Lawrence Wilkerson accused Mr Cheney of ignoring a decision by
President Bush on the treatment of prisoners in the war on terror.

Asked by the BBC's Today if Mr Cheney could be accused of war
crimes, he said: "It's an interesting question."

"Certainly it is a domestic crime to advocate terror," he added.

"And I would suspect, for whatever it's worth, it's an international crime as well."

From original post: " the planning, preparation, initiation or
waging of a war of aggression, or a war in violation of international
treaties, agreements or assurances, or participation in a common plan"
Article 6, Neremberg Tribunal


"I look at the relationship between Mr Cheney and Mr Rumsfeld
as being one that produced these two failures in particular, and I see
that the president is not holding either of them accountable...
so I have to lay some blame at his feet too."
Col Wilkerson

Wilkerson interview text

This is an extraordinary attack by a man who until earlier in the year
was Mr Cheney's colleague in the senior reaches of the Bush team, the
BBC's Justin Webb in Washington says.

Col Wilkerson has in the past accused the vice-president of
responsibility for the conditions which led to the abuse of
prisoners.

But this time he has gone much further, appearing to suggest Mr Cheney
should face war crimes charges, our correspondent adds.

<snip>

(and now for the home run, check it out)

In the BBC interview, Col Wilkerson also developed his views on
whether or not pre-war intelligence was deliberately misused by the
White House.

He said that he had previously thought only honest mistakes were made.


But recent revelations about doubts in the intelligence community
that appear to have been suppressed in the run-up to the war have
made him question this view.

---------------------------

This makes the case. I was stunned when I heard it on the radio and
then read it. Wilkerson is more than they bargained for, a military
man who sees being a good soldier as serving one's country not one's leader.

Thanks UL and Thanks so much Col. Wilkerson.

Here's one for you (although you don't deserve it, you Swamp Rat):



Take that!

Some humor is definitely necessary to help us through these difficult times.

Thank you.


Peace, my friends.

A few related links here:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x5479112

Thank you.


Peace.

blame away from bu$h. He states he lays "some blame" at bu$h's feet. I take issue with this. * is commander in thief-so where does the buck stop? He has to be aware of the allegations of torture and abuse, so his inaction in remedying these horrific acts, makes him culpable.

I am starting to get the impression that these evildoers: cheney and rumsfeld have been used by the BFEE as a way of promoting their evil agenda while leaving a distance from the bu$h family. We repeated comment on this forum about the mental capacity of w, but what if, like the old SNL skit of Reagan, behind closed doors it is the bush family pulling the strings. I have been following the excellent posts of the JFK assassination put out here by Octafish, as well as some of the BCCI posts. While the * family has had generational involvement, cheney and rumsfeld are virtual newcomers to this web of deceit and destruction. what once sounded like conspiracy to me has just too many "coincidences" to qualify as far-fetched.

I don't mean to diminish the roles of cheney and rumsfeld, but I hate to see blame deflected from BFEE.

Taking the blame. After all we had Rummy pictured with Saddam in the early 80's. These are extremely high level, very expensive operatives.

I'm just amazed that Wilkerson is saying anything like this. It's not part of the 'insider code.' I think they hired themselves a 'live wire.'

He'll have more to say which will be helpful I suspect.

* and Co will get it's justice for Iraq, Katrina, and all the rest.

pre-planning, then the Energy minutes of Cheney. then DSM, a clear and consistent plan leading to a war of aggression.

great post, i love it, and saved also...:)

was most definitely a war crime. Tonight we saw three documentaries by nonembedded journalists of what went on before, during and after the seige, some of the most horrifying and heart-wrenching reporting I've seen. It's impossible for me to accept that this is being carried out in the name of my country. What have we sunk to? The entire neocon cabal should be in prison.

... long before they killed or harmed anyone, their planning of war of aggression is deserving of prosecution.

"Never again" needs to become an American motto.


Peace.

This has been premeditated murder all the way. It's getting hard for them to hide their psychopathic souls. They want control of that oil, and they don't care who they have to kill to get it.

... that later today, at their press conference (http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x2281820) they both step to the right side of history.


Peace.

ps-don't you sleep?

... not much (i.e., sleep). I'll get plenty - someday ;)


Peace.

I too, call upon all lawyers, all law enforcement officers, all citizens of stature and means to join together in forming The American War Crimes Tribunal.


Thank you Understandinglife!

why pray tell does this reticent and noble truth allude so many. . . ?

perhaps for not much longer

thanks for posting this.

peace on

Is it even slightly possible that we could do this? It is the right and just thing to do, as American citizens it is our duty to hold our leaders accountable.

The notion that we could form an 'American War Crimes Tribunal' gives me hope for our nation. My eyes actually filled with tears reading this post, thanks UL for putting this together so eloquently.

by the way, I was looking for your post on Wilkerson suggesting Cheney should be charged with war crime -

edited - I just read post #6 above about Wilkerson's comment on Cheney

and the US helped to set that standard

:kick:

Accountability better begin at home or we are no different than every other tyrant Nation in history that had to await others to spank them.

Our decision. Time is short.

Thank you.


Peace.

Where are those who hold the keys to start the proceedings?

They are deathly silent.

Daunting to contemplate, but I am beginning to believe it.

http://thinkprogress.org/2005/11/30/deconstructing-iraq-strategy (be sure to read the comments)


Peace.

out how to navigate (if a site isn't user friendly I don't use it as often) Daily Kos. thanks for posting this.

I'll be trying to get a copy of this thread to General Pace, asap.


Peace.

wrap one's mind around the truth, but slowly we will make it happen, with excellent work like this.

Thanks, UL.


:yourock:

How could it be otherwise with Negroponte on the team (http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=04/04/28/1449257) ....


Peace.

In addition to war crimes, we also have this little issue to remedy, i.e., that our President and Vice and several of their neoconster buddies persistently destroy America by their lies, their misuse of our Armed Forces, and their squandering of the treasury. It would be hard to imagine a more robust enemy-from-within than these dudes.


Peace.

Saddam only to find a worse situation. They still live under the fear of state sponsored terrorism but now have to contend with outside terrorists, a civil war and total economic instability. Is this Bush's vision of freedom on the march? Now he beats the war drums for Syria. I only hope we can prevent this spread of freedom "a la bu$h" before we bring death and destruction to another nation. Perpetual war for profit reasons-How can the American people sit back and allow this to happen in our name?

much reading tonight

Mr Alterman finds van Creveld's admonishment as devestating as most of us do.


Peace.

Reminded me of:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=5390576

I remain convinced that in addition to Americans holding Bush and the neoconsters accountable before an American Tribunal, we must go before the representatives of the world's Nations and begin our exit strategy from Iraq with an unambiguous, substantive apology.


Peace.

about this criminal regime.

Rewrite:

And so by means of careful preparation in the diplomatic field, among others, the PNAC conspirators had woven a position for themselves, so that they could seriously consider plans for war and begin to outline time tables, not binding time tables and not specific ones in terms of months and days, but still general time tables, in terms of years, which were the necessary foundation for further aggressive planning, and a spur to more specific planning.

And that time table was developed, as the Tribunal has already seen, was founded in 1997, contained in our Document Number 386-PS, Exhibit USA-25, the minutes of that conference, which I adverted to in detail on Monday last.

In those minutes, we see the crystallization of the plan to wage aggressive war in in the Middle East, and to seize both Iraq and Iran, and in that order.

U.S. Prosecutor
PNAC Trial Proceedings Vol. II
http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/imt/proc/11-29-45.htm
November 30, 2005

Welcome to DU, truthnproof!

Just suggesting you add Syria to the list, because it is very much on the list, as "Clean Break" (http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x5466206) makes explicit.


Peace.

Not only is Syria on the list, but as this 10/15 NYT article points out, American operations have spilled over the border, sometimes by accident and sometimes by design! As the American people slowly wake up, the PNAC agenda marches forward.

October 15, 2005


G.I.'s and Syrians in Tense Clashes on Iraqi Border
By JAMES RISEN and DAVID E. SANGER

WASHINGTON, Oct. 14 - A series of clashes in the last year between American and Syrian troops, including a prolonged firefight this summer that killed several Syrians, has raised the prospect that cross-border military operations may become a dangerous new front in the Iraq war, according to current and former military and government officials.

The firefight, between Army Rangers and Syrian troops along the border with Iraq, was the most serious of the conflicts with President Bashar al-Assad's forces, according to American and Syrian officials.

It illustrated the dangers facing American troops as Washington tries to apply more political and military pressure on a country that President Bush last week labeled one of the "allies of convenience" with Islamic extremists. He also named Iran.

One of Mr. Bush's most senior aides, who declined to be identified because of the sensitivity of the subject, said that so far American military forces in Iraq had moved right up to the border to cut off the entry of insurgents, but he insisted that they had refrained from going over it.

But other officials, who say they got their information in the field or by talking to Special Operations commanders, say that as American efforts to cut off the flow of fighters have intensified, the operations have spilled over the border - sometimes by accident, sometimes by design. (*DID YOU READ THAT? SOMETIMES BY ACCIDENT, SOMETIMES BY DESIGN!!!)

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/15/politics/15syria.html?pagewanted=print

... regarding "planning" war on Syria:

http://blogs.washingtonpost.com/earlywarning/2005/11/wag_the_damascu.html#more


Peace.

work: (*thanks to Sabra on LBN)

State Department official attacks Iran's president

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/10270207 /

State Department official attacks Iran's president

Iran's new president, Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad, is an irresponsible radical who is digging a hole for himself, a senior US official declared on Wednesday.

Nicholas Burns, the State Department's number three official, launched a particularly personal attack in a speech that focused on Iran's alleged pursuit of nuclear weapons, its support for "terrorist" groups, including Hamas and al-Qaeda, and its poor human rights record.

"Through his statements and actions, President Ahmadi-Nejad is digging a hole for himself and he appears determined to keep on digging," Mr Burns told the School of Advanced International Studies at John Hopkins University.
Mr Burns, who liaises with the European Union in its nuclear talks with Iran, said the Bush administration would spend more dollars on supporting the pro-democracy efforts of the Iranian people in the hope they would change their own government.

Must hold ourselves accountable, and judge accordingly. peace

They might not be Nazis, but they are the closest thing to Nazis that have come down the pike since the "Third Reich" went down in flames, for doing the same things the neocons are willing to do.

As noted here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=4758001

Regarding the "oil" part of the equation, this item is useful:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=4732782&mesg_id=4732983


Thank you for your sharing your cogent insights.


Peace.

Ron Paul outlines the mess we're in perfectly. Bush's plan is the plan of a lifelong loser! I guess that sadly, we all witness now, the sobering result, of having a pResident who at best had a C average in his HISTORY classes. He must have had better things to do than to really study. Things like cheerleading and frat pranks.

Lebensraum and the plan to uphold and protect Israel at any cost, drove the neocons and the Office of Special Planning at the Pentagon/White House, to trick and override the will of the people and their representatives. By hook or CROOK the neocons meant to have their way all along. We see now that the neocons have made the same mistakes that every other despotic plunderer in the past has made. Their think tank mentality is as flawed as the selfish rogues from the past who have deserted any form of honor, or morality, in favor of wealth and power. Greed has inspired them, the same as it inspires any common criminal, to commit their crimes.

All the lost can do now, is to continue to walk in their endless circle. The Foxes are chasing their tails, because they have outfoxed themselves.

THINK TANK = CONSPIRACY

thread!

the winners will be subject to being tried for war crimes, as well as the losers. Maybe this Administration will rack up so many charges that it will set the precedent and be the first one.

:thumbsup:

...if we're ever to salvage our national soul. There must be a thorough accounting.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=106&topic_id=25267&mesg_id=25267

Thank you,
UL


Peace.

http://www.bushcommission.org/

http://www.bushcommission.org/call-charter.htm

http://www.bushcommission.org/overall_plan.htm

http://www.bushcommission.org/indictments.htm

Next session is in January. These are some truly brave and devoted Americans!

.. the individuals involved, it appears to me that I should revise my request to Skinner and the DU Activist Group to bring as much attention to this existing Commission as possible.

Do you and others agree with that assessment?


Peace.

can all work on promoting it.

sure do.
Michael Ratner is a busy man and is not letting up on the Administration.

on my quick read of the commission's list, it appears that they have not included your point regarding the crime of PLANNING of a war of aggression.

I think it should be included in the listed crimes. I hope you will forward your OP to them.

... and will continue communicating the necessity that they include any form of conceptualization or planning of aggressive war in their investigation and deliberations.

Thank you!


Peace.

that we should swing our efforts to support the commission already in place.

I like the idea of the a/v postcard. In the meantime, I would suggest that everyone send the link the the commission's website to all their compadres in arms.

Thanx for all the work you've put into this! :)

for the links, bookmarking

Self-Defense, Preemptive War, Preventive War and the Crime of Aggressive War

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/larry-beinhart/judgment-at-nuremberg-par_b_11559.html

Definitely worth reading.


Peace.