The Prosecution of George W. Bush

Many speculations were made about the possibility of prosecuting George W. Bush for crimes committed during the illegal invasion of Iraq in 2003.

However, nothing materialized to prosecute the previous president and some of his associates, such as Vice President Dick Cheney and Defense Minister Donald Rumsfeld. It was reported that President Obama was warned by his Transitional Committee to look forward and not to attempt to investigate the previous president.

In a previous post that focused on this issue, President Obama was warned to not get involved in the investigation of the Iraq war because he might face a rebellion that might remove him from the White House.

Nevertheless, other international organizations have been calling for the prosecution of Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld for war crimes during the Iraq War.

On September 11, 2011, Amnesty International issued an official request to the Canadian government to arrest and try George W. Bush during his visit to Canada on October 20^th, 2011.

Amnesty International provided the Canadian government with substantial evidence about crimes committed between 2002 and 2009 that were in violation of international law. These crimes were committed by the U.S. in Afghanistan, Iraq and Guantanamo Bay.

According to Susan Lee of Amnesty International, the Canadian government should arrest Bush according to international law, since the U.S. government has failed to assume that responsibility.

Furthermore, if the Canadian government will fail to do that, then it will also be in violation of international law, and nobody should be above the law.

The Canadian government has ignored the request.

Another mock trial was held in Kuala Lambour, Malaysia, on November 19, 2011, by a tribunal of international judicial experts who accused Bush and Tony Blair of committing crimes in Iraq in violation of international law.

Members of the tribunal deliberated over the case and after examining the evidence, they unanimously issued a guilty verdict for Bush and Blair for crimes committed in Iraq. The invasion of Iraq was unlawful according to international law.

The seven members of the international tribunal, which was chaired by former Malaysian federal court judge Abdul Hadir Sulaiman (who presided over the trial) issued this guilty verdict in absentia. They have pointed out that the evidence shows that the drums of war were being beaten before the invasion. The accused, in their own memoirs, have admitted their own intentions to invade Iraq, regardless of international law. (www.readersupportednews.org, 11/21/2011). Since the tribunal court has no power, the verdict was purely symbolic.

It was also reported that the international tribunal is expected to conduct a mock trial for crimes committed by Cheney, Rumsfeld and several other American officials who were involved in the Iraq war.

It is interesting to recognize at least in theory that in the U.S. nobody is above the law. But in reality and practice, the influence of money, which has been used by multinational corporations and their lobbyists in the nation’s capital, has turned many members of Congress to serve that segment of society over the people who elected them. It is regrettable to say that the traditional foundations of American democracy (government by the people, to the people and for the people) is part of the past. Instead, now it is government by the people to the minority and for the minority.

It is of interest to read some remarks that were made by the well-known American film producer Oliver Stone. At a film festival held in Algeria, he stated that, “Americans worship the dollar”. That statement was made in connection to the Occupy Wall Street movement. Mr. stone produced the films “Wall Street” and “Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps”. He produces other films, but his main point is that there is no democracy in the U.S., those who are running society and government are multi-national corporations, especially the American military industrial complex and the military establishment. At the present, Mr. Stone is working to produce a ten hour film: “The Untold Story of the U.S.”, which will be shown in May 2012. (www.aljazeera.net, 11/20/2011).

The only hope, as I see it, to save the American democracy is to send politicians to Washington D.C. for one term only. Then they will not be forced to cave under the pressure of lobbyists and their financial contribution to their elections. The problem has gotten even worse since the U.S. Supreme Court lifted the ceiling on the amount of money contributed to politicians. I interpret such a decision by saying, “In the dollar we trust” instead of “In God we trust”.