illumin8's Journal: Bush/Rumsfeld's flat-out assault on the Geneva Convention

Wow. That's all I can say after reading this very informative article in Newsweek today.

It looks like Bush and Rumsfeld were both complicit in authorizing the use of torture and interrogation techniques that are in direct violation of the Geneva Convention. Their logic? That terrorists are illegal, unlawful combatants and therefore the Geneve Convention does not apply. It appears that these methods were originally authorized only for Guantanamo Bay and Al Qaeda suspects, but in November of 2003 Rumsfeld authorized their use on Iraqi detainees as well, after getting frustrated with the lack of intelligence about WMDs and the insurgency.

It also appears that Colin Powell, the State Department, and military lawyers or JAG officers were the lone voices of protest against this policy. Of course Bush and Rumsfeld acted unilaterally on this and completely ignored their protests.

My question for you is this: Wouldn't authorizing the torture of prisoners and ignoring the Geneva Convention subject Bush and Rumsfeld to impeachment and possibly even trial for war crimes? As commander-in-chief, isn't Bush personally responsible for the war crimes committed by soldiers underneath him, especially if he personally authorized these techniques? I don't understand why there aren't a million US citizens camped out on the white house lawn right now demanding Bush, Cheney, and Rumsfeld be hauled away in shackles by UN peacekeepers to stand trial at the Hague.

Of course our "commander-in-chief" would probably never allow UN peacekeepers to step foot on US soil without launching WWIII.

Our country is so fucked...