Just Do It

Jeremy Brecher and Brendan Smith say that there are Nine Reasons to Investigate War Crimes Now:

Retired General Antonio Taguba, the officer who led the Army's investigation into Abu Ghraib, recently wrote in the preface to the new report, Broken laws, Broken Lives:

"There is no longer any doubt as to whether the current administration has committed war crimes. The only question that remains to be answered is whether those who ordered the use of torture will be held to account."

Should those who ordered war crimes be held to account? With the conclusion of the Bush regime approaching, many people are dubious, even those horrified by Administration actions. They fear a long, divisive ordeal that could tear the country apart. They note that such division could make it far harder for the country to address the many other crises it is facing. They see the upcoming elections as a better way to set the country on a new path.

Read the rest here.

Gerald Ford used the same argument that the country would face “a long, divisive ordeal that could tear the country apart.” Ford was wrong to pardon Nixon way back when. What Bush has done is much worse than what Nixon did.

Both Bush and Congress have fallen so low in popularity that the case could easily be made that investigating the Bush administration would only bring the country together, not tear it apart.

“Suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress. But I repeat myself.” Mark Twain