International Law

Eleven Years Since Greatest Blunder In Modern American History: The Iraq War!

Eleven years ago today, America went to war in Iraq on the false premise that there were weapons of mass destruction there, which did not exist!

It is clear that George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, and Donald Rumsfeld KNEW that fact, but they convinced Colin Powell to speak before the United Nations on a lie that he was not privy to, took advantage of his far greater stature than any of them had!

The Iraq War led to 4,400 American dead, and over 30,000 wounded, with many losing limbs or part of their skull, and many having mental and emotional trauma which continues today!

It led to the longest war in American history, except for the Afghanistan War, which was put on the back burner, and still goes on today, making both wars total failures, but another 2,000 killed in that war.

It did not create a stable Iraq, but killed at least many hundreds of thousands in Iraq, if not a million or more.

We spent a lot of treasure, helping to double the national debt under the Bush-Cheney regime.

We allowed ourselves to engage in war with Iraq, when Iran was the much bigger threat, and remains so in 2014.

We also gave the excuse for Vladamir Putin of Russia to invade and take over Crimea, as allowed under international law, because, after all, we had claimed the right to invade a sovereign nation in a war of choice, a preemptive war, making us no better than past aggressors, who attacked without a direct provocation.

Many feel that George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, and Donald Rumsfeld are international outlaws, and it is clear that if it were possible to arrest them, they could be tried on human rights abuse at the International Court of Justice in the Hague, the Netherlands!

Of course, that will not happen in reality, but this is not something that should be overlooked as an example of what happens when the wrong people are put into power, particularly with the reality that George W. Bush did not win the popular vote in the Presidential Election of 2000, but won the court case that was decided on party line vote in the Supreme Court, a majority which had been picked by Republican Presidents!

History will not judge the Bush Presidency well, and no matter what the Republican Party of 2014 does to sweep the past under the rug, the truth will win out, and it will not be pretty!

The Tragedy Of September 11 Twelve Years Later: We Are Afraid, Even In Face Of A Threat!

This Wednesday, we will mark 12 years since the horrifying events of September 11, 2001. and we reach that date in a divided country, basically afraid to stand for principle and against terror and mass murder by means outlawed in 1925.

Barack Obama seems unlikely to gain support for punishment against Syria’s government for using chemical warfare against its own civilian population.

Congress is playing politics and fear–the Republicans using politics and the Democrats fear—and we are about to sit back and allow violation of international law and respect for ethics and morality to be seen as insignificant.

This will reverberate in a very negative fashion, and it is highly likely we will face a greater threat from Iran or North Korea in the future, by our refusal to take a strong stand, and emasculating the Presidency of the United States, which will create long term damage!

It is certain that we will regret what is happening, and there is still time to change course, but it looks as if it will require a miracle!

For the future of our nation, let us hope at the last minute that politics and fear will be replaced by principle, courage, and resolve!

The Military Industrial Complex, The Republican Party, And Hypocrisy!

The Republican Party has always been the major promoter of the Military Industrial Complex, condemned by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in his Farewell Address in 1961, but pursued and courted by Republican Presidents Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush, and George Bush over the last 45 years of American history.

And Dick Cheney, Vice President under the second Bush, personifies the MIC perfectly!

But now we see Cheney’s daughter, Liz Cheney, who already has thrown her lesbian sister, Mary Cheney, “under the bus” to win bigot votes in Wyoming’s Senate primary, even opposing her own dad and mom on acceptance of gay marriage and their daughter, also coming out against Barack Obama conducting a military strike against Syria for its chemical warfare action against civilians on August 21!

Imagine a Cheney taking such a stand–unbelievable!

But it looks as if most Republicans will vote in Congress against such action, overlooking chemical warfare, which is banned by international treaty of 1925, taking place in Syria.

But then Ronald Reagan overlooked chemical warfare by Saddam Hussein in his nation of Iraq, and against Iran in the Iran-Iraq War of the 1980s. with the supplies sold for profit with the knowledge of the Reagan Administration!

So the GOP has shown evidence of not caring about war crimes now twice, by Iraq in the 1980s and Syria now!

The Republican Party, therefore, is hypocritical and morally bankrupt, while Barack Obama is principled and a believer in enforcing international law against war crimes!

So what the GOP is doing will undermine its future long term, and it makes one wish to vomit over the lack of principle and common decency in the party, once proud of Lincoln, TR, and Ike!

Barack Obama Vs Ronald Reagan On Chemical Warfare

Barack Obama is being criticized by many for caring about the horrors of chemical warfare in Syria, and demanding retribution on the Syrian government. His heart is in the right place, as chemical warfare was outlawed in 1925 by international treaty.

In the 88 years since then, Adolf Hitler, Saddam Hussein, and Bashar Al Assad are the ONLY dictators to have used it in warfare.

Hitler, of course, was opposed by the forces of freedom in World War II.

But what about Saddam Hussein, when he used it in 1988 on his own people, and also against Iran, in the Iran-Iraq War of the 1980s, before the Persian Gulf War and before the Iraq War?

Well, the President of the United States was Ronald Reagan, and in 1983, he sent Donald Rumsfeld, then a private citizen, to meet with Saddam Hussein, and arrange for sale of chemical weapons that might be used against Iran in the Iran-Iraq War, which was done by Saddam, as well as attacks on some of his own villages and civilians in Iraq.

So Ronald Reagan has to bear some of the responsibility for what Saddam did, and yet, he never said a word about the use of chemical weapons!

In a situation that involves ethics and morality, Ronald Reagan struck out BIG TIME, and he should be held accountable, but his conservative supporters overlook that, as they build up Reagan as an icon, who could do no wrong!

On the issue of chemical warfare, Barack Obama scores a home run, and Ronald Reagan, again, struck out!

A Moment Of Reckoning For The Tea Party Movement: McCain, Graham, Boehner Back Obama On Syria!

While the Syrian Civil War rages on, it is now clear that a moment long overdue is coming in the Republican Party–whether the anti government Tea Party Movement is finally going to get what it deserves—a total repudiation by the mainstream conservatives in the party over whether America takes a stand against the outlaw Syrian government and its war crime of chemical warfare against civilians!

Speaker of the House John Boehner, and Senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham have come out for the Obama stand, and are ready to fight for a resolution backing the President’s use of force against Syria.

So the gauntlet is thrown down for Tea Party members in the House, numbering about 75, and the Tea Party Senators, including Rand Paul, Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, and Mike Lee, and others, as we see whether they will stop the partisanship and anti government lunacy, and back Barack Obama for once!

As predicted, a “civil war” is likely in the GOP, and if the Tea Party Movement triumphs, it will doom the Republican Party after 159 years! This is a battle for survival of sanity, responsibility, and mainstream conservatism as an alternative to the Democratic Party!

An Alliance Between Anti War Liberals And Libertarian Rand Paul? An Unholy Alliance!

Are we about to see anti war liberals and progressives form an alliance with Libertarian Rand Paul and his ilk, on the Syrian chemical warfare controversy?

If that happens, then the left will be morally and ethically bankrupt, as to become isolationists is NOT the answer to all international involvement, as Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky espouses!

Just because of the corrupt and manipulated action of the Bush-Cheney-Rumsfeld Administration in Iraq is NOT a justification to sit back and do nothing about the use of chemical weapons by Syria against its own civilian population, and if nothing is done to punish that government, then the likelihood of further such chemical warfare attacks is likely, and not only by Syria, but by other rogue governments!

And Iran will feel they can get away with nuclear weapons development with impunity, and the world will become a much more dangerous place!

Yes, we have an Iraq Syndrome, as we earlier had a Vietnam Syndrome, but to allow those experiences to dictate our reaction to outlaw governments utilizing weapons banned by international agreements dating back a century, would be tragic beyond belief!

And the fact that Barack Obama is asking for support from Congress should soothe those who worry that the Imperial Presidency is alive and well, as the only way for one to relate to this crisis, is the need to make clear the case for American response, with the understanding that it shall be limited to punishment, not to direct intervention in the Syria Civil War with ground forces.

America must be a moral leader in a world that has too many cynics who wonder if any nation is dedicated to preserving human liberty and freedom!

Obama Brilliant: Call For Congressional Vote Will Gain Public Support And Rent Asunder The Republican Party Big Time!

President Barack Obama, in the midst of what may be his biggest foreign policy crisis, the planned bombing of Syria over the use of chemical weapons on innocent civilians, has displayed wisdom, coolness, and good judgment in calling for a Congressional discussion and vote, even though he has the authority as Commander in Chief to take action in the name of international law and common decency, morality, and ethics!

The Congress should be called back by Speaker of the House John Boehner immediately to meet on Tuesday, the day after Labor Day, six days early, as this is a crisis which requires debate and vote as soon as possible!

But even if it goes another week, until debate begins, this move by Obama insures that no one can say he took reckless action in a hasty manner!

Of course, the Congress COULD decide NOT to back military action, but that is extremely unlikely, as the Senate is controlled by Democrats, and there are Republicans, a lot of them, who will back Obama, including John McCain and Lindsey Graham in the leadership, but others as well, even if some Democrats refuse to do so!

And in the US House, most Democrats will back the Commander in Chief, and not all that many Republicans, certainly not a majority, are necessary to back Obama!

But what will occur out of this controversy is that the Republican Party, already engaged in its own “civil war” between the so called “establishment” and the Tea Party lunatics, will now see the party rent asunder, cracking into pieces, which will affect the 2016 nomination battle, and the long term future of both groups within the party, with a good chance the GOP, as we know it, will NOT survive!

It will be fun to see the McCain-Graham and other mainstream conservatives fighting against libertarian Rand Paul, and likely Ted Cruz and others of the Tea Party group, and will force Marco Rubio to show if he has “cajones”!

The rhetoric will fly fast and thick, and will show up the Tea Party as dangerous, reckless, lunatic, delusional, and other colorful adjectives, and Rand Paul will see his isolationism, his naivete, his stupidity, his delusional nature, demonstrated for all to see!

And the nation and Barack Obama will come out looking intelligent, knowledgeable, courageous, principled, and we will thank ourselves for the fact that Barack Obama is our Commander in Chief in tough times, as was the case with Lincoln, Wilson, FDR, Truman, JFK, Reagan, George H. W. Bush, and Clinton before him!

Obama, Biden, Kerry, Hagel (Syria) Vs. Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld (Iraq)

The tragedy of the Iraq War, an ill conceived and unnecessary war, which weakened the United States and emboldened Iran, is now haunting the Obama Administration, as it considers military intervention in Syria, as a result of the use of chemical weapons, believed to have been promoted by the government of Bashar Al Assad.

Chemical warfare is an illegal crime under international law, and a crime against humanity, and IF it is proved that Assad authorized this, rather than a renegade group, it is essential that the international community punish him for his war crime!

If nothing is done, then it will be seen as an endorsement of a war crime, a crime only done by a very small handful of government leaders in world history, including, of course, Adolf Hitler!

It will show that the world is again sitting by as they did when Hitler came to power in 1933 in what became known as Nazi Germany!

But the failures of the Iraq War, including the human cost and financial burden, is now burdening the Obama Administration as they plan strategy.

But to compare the Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld led tragedy to what might be done under Obama, Biden, Kerry, Hagel is to distort reality, as the credibility of the first group is extremely different than that of the second group!

We are talking about three leaders who regularly lied to us, against four leaders with solid credentials and principles, who are reluctantly planning an intervention in a measured way!

The hypocrisy of Republicans who rushed to back the Bush Administration, while now opposing action by the Obama Administration, is nothing new, part of the continued attempt to undermine anything that Barack Obama and his colleagues want and believe in, whether domestic or foreign.

Obama wants a limited engagement, similar to Bill Clinton’s intervention in Kosovo in 1999, a 78 day bombing campaign against Serbia, with only a loss of one plane, and no human casualties.

While there is no way to know the reaction of Iran, Russia, China and others if there was an internationally led effort to punish Syria’s outlaw government, it is hard to conceive that intervention in Syria would lead to a wider war.

In any case, a chemical warfare Syria represents a threat to Israel, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and really, the civilized world, so to do nothing is simply unacceptable!

Let us pray for the good judgment of Barack Obama, Joe Biden, John Kerry, and Chuck Hagel, as they face what could be the signature foreign policy challenge of the Obama Presidency, and hope that other nations, including Great Britain, whose Parliament just rejected any action, will come to support a necessary minimal intervention against an international outlaw government, which threatens the long range sanity of the world, if chemical warfare goes unpunished!

Public Safety And National Security Versus Right To Privacy

Libertarians and Barack Obama critics are up in arms over the National Security Agency and the Federal Bureau of Investigation authority to gain records of phone calls, emails, voice mails, and all other evidence that could possibly prevent future terrorist attacks, claiming it is a loss of the right to privacy, and that privacy should overrule public safety and national security.

But, as much as this author wishes we lived in a world without terrorism, the reality is that the number one priority of the government is to promote public safety and national security, and if one is NOT engaged in terrorist or criminal activity, what do we have to hide from the government? Why such a protest if nothing we are doing is illegal?

Believe me, after Benghazi, we see the reaction because we failed to stop a terrorist attack, but now some of the same critics are trying to stop the government from protecting Americans on the false idea that somehow, we all have something to hide, and that the government should not be able to track terrorist or criminal actions, in the name of that privacy.

When we discover, however, that liberals from Diane Feinstein on the left to Lindsey Graham on the right, and all of the Intelligence Committee members of the US House of Representatives and US Senate knew about this, and approved of it, the screams and yells of people such as Rand Paul, who lives in his own fantasy world, ring hollow, as making a person such as him our President would undermine our public safety and national security, and we are not about to do such a stupid thing as to consider such a wing nut as Paul for the Presidency!

It is better to do what the NSA and FBI are doing, than it was to torture suspects in the way that George W. Bush promoted, as it will protect our nation, and yet uphold our belief in international law and common decency by the banning of torture methods which produce little substantial evidence, but shame us in the eyes of the world!

In history, Barack Obama will be seen as doing what was necessary and essential, just as much as Abraham Lincoln was bitterly attacked during the Civil War, but is now seen as justified in his restrictions on civil liberties!

Former Vice President Dick Cheney’s Memoir: Confirmation Of An Evil Man With No Apologies Or Regrets!

Former Vice President Dick Cheney, arguably the most powerful Vice President in the history of the nation, and also the most controversial and despised, is coming out with his memoir of his life working as Chief of Staff to Gerald Ford, significant member of the House of Representatives from Wyoming, Secretary of Defense under the first President Bush, and Vice President under the second President Bush.

Cheney, regarded as a war criminal for his support of water boarding, considered torture under international law, has no apologies for that and still endorses it as a method to use with terrorist suspects, despite the condemnation of most civilized Americans, including Senator John McCain, himself a victim of torture methods while a prisoner of war during the Vietnam War.

He also is getting revenge on all he worked with, including former Secretary of State Colin Powell, former CIA head George Tenet, and former National Security Adviser and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. He revels that his memoir would “have heads exploding all over Washington” , with a broad smile on his face, making him look the equivalent of what we imagine the devil might look like!

This disgraceful, mean spirited man was once considered mainstream, until September 11, when he seems to have gone maniacal, changing in his whole outlook and relationships with others in a way that makes one wonder if he is certifiably mentally ill!

The tragedy is that his legacy harms the image of the United States overseas, and nothing will make him look as a decent and honest man, considering his great gaining of wealth from a corrupt corporation, Haliburton, even while he was Vice President. This man who evaded the draft in the 1960s has become the image of the man who is always looking for another place to bomb and invade. And of course, he recklessly shot a friend in the face, and never apologized for that either!

Cheney does not deserve our respect; rather, our disdain and condemnation, and he will go down as one of the great villains of America’s long history!

And what he represents will not help to improve the image of the man who took him on for the Vice Presidency for two terms: President George W. Bush. Bush will have a lot to answer for in history, not the least this monster he gave too much authority and power to because of his own inadequacies!

And to think, George W. Bush should never have been President if only the Florida vote count had been finished fairly, except for unconstitutional intervention by the majority Republican Supreme Court, denying Vice President Al Gore his rightful win for the Oval Office!