War Crimes #2

Boy, I got a few really quick responses on my earlier post on the possibility of trying some of the Bush Administration for War Crimes.

a quick observation and then a story...

the observation is that I don't know enough to know whether anyone is guilty. From what I have read and seen, I strongly suspect, yes, but I don't presume to know.

now a story.

Once upon a time there was a Hindu holy man sitting next to a road during the heavy rains of monsoon, meditating. As the rains poured and the water began to rise, he turned his attention to his surroundings. Almost all of the area was covered in water that was quickly draining away down the road. There was a small high spot near him that had become an island and was soon to disappear under the rising waters. A scorpion had retreated for safety to the high spot. As the holy man watched, he knew that the waters would rise, carry the scorpion away, and it would drown. He reached out to save it and as he did, it struck with its tail. He was quick enough to avoid the sting. He reached out again and again the scorpion tried to sting him. Again, he was able to avoid the sting. This happened a third time.

There was a man watching who decided to advise the holy man, "Don't you know that it is in the nature of the scorpion to sting? If you keep reaching out to save it, you will get stung."

The holy man replied, "Don't you know that it is in my nature to save life? Why should I allow the scorpion to cause me to change my nature?"

War Crimes Trial

I believe that there are folk in the Bush administration who should be tried for war crimes. I'm not sure how high it should go, but perhaps as far as President Bush. I don't know whether he or anyone else should be found guilty but I think they should be tried. Here's why.

1. The data from Guantanamo seems to indicate that our government at the highest level is complicit in breaking international law.

2. If they are guilty, then a trial is the only way to restore the US's reputation.

3. If they are not guilty, a fair trial is the only way to restore the US's reputation.

It is critical for the moral standing of the US, to show that we do not see ourselves as above the law. Judge Patricia Wald, a judge in the War Crimes Tribunals for Yugoslavia, implied this question in her forward to Guantanamo and It's Aftermath, a study published by the Human Rights Center at the University of California at Berkeley, will the US hold itself to the same standards it imposes on other nations? It is critical for our standing in the world to restore our moral integrity. It is critical for our security to be able once again to say we are what we claim to be. It is critical that we put this dark history behind us. The only was to do so is to bring to trial those who are responsible.