Rumsfeld facing war crimes trial in Germany

[jay gw]

Rumsfeld facing war crimes case in Germany

BERLIN (Reuters) - Lawyers acting for a U.S. advocacy group will today file war crimes charges in Germany against senior U.S. administration officials for their alleged role in torture at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq.

"German law in this area is leading the world," Peter Weiss, Vice President of the New York-based Centre for Constitutional Rights (CCR), a human rights group, was quoted as saying in Frankfurter Rundschau newspaper's Tuesday edition.

According to the group, German law allows war criminals to be investigated wherever they may be living.

Those to be named in the case to be filed at Germany's Federal Prosecutors Office include Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld, former Central Intelligence Agency chief George Tenet and eight other officials.

http://www.swissinfo.org/sen/Swissinfo.html?siteSect=143&sid=5372618

If found guilty, these officials may find it tough to get visas. They should probably resign, those that haven't already.

 

[crimresearch]

Did they ever catch that other American? The one convicted in absentia of war crimes and given a 40+ year sentence by a Yugoslav court?

I could have sworn I saw someone who looked just like him on TV the other day, opening some kind of library in Arkansas....I called America's Most Wanted, but for some reason they didn't seem interested.

 

[Luke T.]

Well, I've searched and googled and searched and googled, and I can't find where the CCR ever tried to get Saddam Hussein tried for war crimes in the 1980s. But he only gassed people with chemical weapons. A misdemeanor, I guess.

 

[digitalmcq]

Well, I've searched and googled and searched and googled, and I can't find where the CCR ever tried to get Saddam Hussein tried for war crimes in the 1980s. But he only gassed people with chemical weapons. A misdemeanor, I guess.

Yeah, too bad the Germans didn't react with the outrage obviously felt at the time by the US administration (including Rumsfeld, by the way).

 

[Drooper]

So let's be clear here.

German nationals are trying non German citizens for alleged crimes committed committed against non German citizens outside Germany.

Right.

 

[Luke T.]

The topic title is a misnomer. Just because some nutjobs "file a case" in Germany because of a liberal German law doesn't mean it will be investigated, much less tried. This is a publicity stunt, no more.

 

[Tony]

Well, I've searched and googled and searched and googled, and I can't find where the CCR ever tried to get Saddam Hussein tried for war crimes in the 1980s. But he only gassed people with chemical weapons. A misdemeanor, I guess.

Here are the rules when dealing with war crimes:

1. Anything done by america, good or bad, is a war crime.

2. When arabs kill and oppress other arabs, things are fine.

3. Anything done by jews, good or bad, is a war crime.

4. When arabs kill and oppress jews, things are fine.

 

[Chaos]

The topic title is a misnomer. Just because some nutjobs "file a case" in Germany because of a liberal German law doesn't mean it will be investigated, much less tried. This is a publicity stunt, no more.

Ah... a voice of reason at last.

We´ve had a lot of nutcase-ness in German courts - or at least the attempt thereof. German judges, however, tend to be a pretty serious, down-to-earth kind that won´t let anything come from this, I can assure you.

 

[Tmy]

Silly Germans. Warcrimes are for losers.


I heard they are tryingto indite Bush in Canada on similar grounds. I think its the latest thing. Flie charges on him everywhere.

 

[Giz]

Ah... a voice of reason at last.

We´ve had a lot of nutcase-ness in German courts - or at least the attempt thereof. German judges, however, tend to be a pretty serious, down-to-earth kind that won´t let anything come from this, I can assure you.

It's not so much the ruling of the German courts that was the interesting angle, more the thought of the German police trying to actually apprehend Rumsfeld!

Doesn't the guy even have a secret base made from a hollowed out mountain in Colorado? (Or is that Dr Evil?)

 

[Luke T.]

Silly Germans. Warcrimes are for losers.


I heard they are tryingto indite Bush in Canada on similar grounds. I think its the latest thing. Flie charges on him everywhere.

It makes for a good pickup line in some leftist circles that can help get a guy laid. "I filed a case against Rumsfeld in Germany."

 

[Ed]

And some wonder why the US does not want to participate in the World Court.

 

[jay gw]

It's not so much the ruling of the German courts that was the interesting angle, more the thought of the German police trying to actually apprehend Rumsfeld!

Oh, there are many things that can happen to you if you're found guilty of war crimes besides being arrested.

Exhibit A: The US army in Vietnam

 

[BPSCG]

And some wonder why the US does not want to participate in the World Court.

Or let U.S. soldiers serve under international command.

 

[Luke T.]

Oh, there are many things that can happen to you if you're found guilty of war crimes besides being arrested.

Banned from EuroDisney for life?

 

[ManfredVonRichthoffen]

Ah... a voice of reason at last.

We´ve had a lot of nutcase-ness in German courts - or at least the attempt thereof. German judges, however, tend to be a pretty serious, down-to-earth kind that won´t let anything come from this, I can assure you.

Interstingly, it says in the article the legal procedings were started by an american group.

I suppose at least they are wasting german money on court costs instead of american.

 

[Chaos]

And some wonder why the US does not want to participate in the World Court.

You´re right. Gitmo is a so much fairer approach to international law.

 

[Luke T.]

You´re right. Gitmo is a so much fairer approach to international law.

If your wife thinks you are fooling around on her even if you aren't, and she persists in that belief, the temptation to actually fool around begins to arise.

 

[Jocko]

You´re right. Gitmo is a so much fairer approach to international law.

Er, at this point I think it's incumbent on someone to convince me it isn't, if this little stunt is any indication.

 

[Tony]

You´re right. Gitmo is a so much fairer approach to international law.

International law allows guys like Saddam Hussien and Kim Jung Ill to kill, oppress and starve their people. Gitmo is just a military prison. So yes, I'd say Gitmo is A LOT fairer than international law.