My friend raises an excellent point about the Nuremberg trials...

[22181]

I have a friend that I have known for twelve years, though we've never met personally. He was the first "stranger" I ever emailed on the Internet so long ago, after he posted something intriguing to a Usenet newsgroup.

He lives in Germany and we were talking about Bush today. He wrote this:

I'm a huge fan of your country, we have American cars, watch all movies in their original version, celebrate the 4th of July, etc.
But these days everything American is frowned upon. I mean, last year when the war started we were travelling the US and as Europeans we were being afraid of saying so, because French Fries were named Freedom Fries, anyone against the war was unamerican, Germans and French were ungrateful traitors, etc.

Now one year later it turns out that the exact arguments by the Europeans were correct, there were no WMD, no connection between Saddam and AlQueda, the country is more unstable today than ever before, the threat of terrorism is worse than ever before, and so on. Exactly what Europe had been afraid of, and unlike the US, we have had more than one war fought on our continent, and the three nations that cautioned Bush the most were the ones that suffered most in the last war.

You know, at the Nuremberg war trials the US prosecutor Jackson blamed Germany for starting an offensive war without provocation and this act being a crime:

"It is the plot and the act of aggression which we charge to be crimes. Our position is that whatever grievances a nation may have, however objectionable it finds the status quo, aggressive warfare is an illegal means for settling those grievances or for altering those conditions."

I doubt that Bush will be punished though.

[tom_paine]

1. Yes, the Busheviks are War Crminals. Yes, they won't be punished

And yes, the Busheviks are very Hitler-ish and your friend is wise to notice.

[wtmusic]

5. What makes you so sure they won't be punished

there are a LOT of people who aren't going to drop the ball on this one. A little water under the bridge (5-10 years) and anything could happen.

I'm optimistic.

[tom_paine]

6. I hope you're right. But I have learned that in Imperial Amerika

anything even remotely resembling truth or justice must be seen & verified to be believed.

But I do hope you are correct.

[Cleita]

12. I hope we the people don't drop the ball on this one, but

unfortunately, I wonder once we go back to being normal and having what we want if we won't forget the past like we usually do.

[Solly Mack]

2. Yes. All the other war crimes stem from the first war crime -the invasion

itself

[Dover]

3. I sure would like to see the Bush cabal prosecuted for their crimes

I think it is one of the few ways left to us that might help us to win back the trust of the world.

I was traveling in Italy during the last Gulf War and the anti-American sentiment was palpable. It was the first time I realized that the world wasn't necessarily living under the same perceptions of us as we are spoon fed by our media.

I also realized, after returning home and trying to find information about the Gulf War, that our media was undergoing an almost complete blackout censorship. All I saw was news casts showing all our neat weapons and government sanctioned footage of 'surgical strikes'. Bush the Elder and many of the same people who serve his son, laid the groundwork for the propagandizing of the media news.

[Veggie Meathead]

10. One of the questions that we should ask of our network

journalists is why they do not interview ordinary people in European and Asian countries to gather their opinions on important issues.This would provide a much needed perspective to Americans what the world thinks of the opinions and actions of our rulers.

[redqueen]

4. *sigh*

I hope he's wrong about that last part.

[Kanary]

7. The German people are probably still very sensitive to seeing the

"SIGNS"

I'm sure that many know what is happening in the country, and the likely outcome.

I'm wondering if, at some point, the Europeans will take a stronger stand against the actions of the US.

I can only hope.

Of course, your friend is completely correct.

:cry:

Kanary

[Spinzonner]

8. I think that Bush, Cheney, and some of the administration

will not be able to leave the United States for fear of prosecution under the Pinochet Principle, much less the Nuremberg precedents.

[Jim__]

9. The Nuremburg trials happened because Germany lost the war

Right now, there is little probability that bush will start a war he has a realistic chance of losing - losing in the way Germany lost.

But, for a long time after WWII, the world condemned Germany for not resisting Hitler. We have that same obligation they did. We must show forceful resistance to bush.

[CaTeacher]

11. The winners write history. That is just the way that it is.

[wtmusic]

13. Wasn't aware we had won this war

Looks an awful lot like losing to me