Constant's pations

If it's more than 30 minutes old, it's not news. It's a blog.

Friday, November 03, 2006

American Corporate Officers Targeted By War Crimes Prosecutors

American War Crimes Indictments: Serious Talks Underway

After passing the illegal Military Commissions Bill, war crimes prosecutors have expanded and deepened the investigation; thanks to Katharine for coverage.

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Once the US showed intent not to enforce the law, this changed the dynamic, as it did with Yugososlavia:

Indeed, according to Scott Horton, chair of the International Law Committee of the New York City Bar Association, when Yugoslavia sought to immunize senior government officials, the United States declared the act itself to be evidence of such a conspiracy.
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US government officials, because of their refusal to investigate war crimes, and their self-immunization effort with the illegal Military Commissions Bill, sent a clear message: They have no respect for the Geneva conventions; and would like to reward themselves for having failed to do what they should have done.

Unless Americans lawfully prosecute the President, as they have the power to do, other nations, as was the case with Yugoslavia, may lawfully enter the arena and impose judicial sanctions.

Americans must decide whether they want to exercise sovereignty, or as with Yugoslavia, have order restored using lawful force and intervention.

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If the American leadership incorrectly concludes that there are no lawful sanctions they are incorrect. Legislators and attorneys -- when they failed to prevent war crimes, or endorsed illegal procedures and policies, or failed to prevent illegal funding for unlawful things -- were complicit with the WWII German war crimes.

The current orders of this President are not lawful. It is illegal for anyone to argue that the orders are enforceable; or that he remains a lawful authority. Although he is elected, he does not have the power to enforce, or compel anyone to follow continued illegal orders.

It is irrelevant the US doesn't have the resources in Iraq to maintain stability. This is a Geneva requirement, and was known, or should have been known prior to launching combat operations.

There is insufficient time, no matter how quickly the US army increases troops in Iraq, to outpace the growth of insurgents. Not only is the President waging illegal war, he cannot possibly implement any solution that would lawfully contain the security situation in Iraq.

The Army, despite discussion the possibility that additional troops might be needed, cannot credibly show that even adding 200,000 troops will suffice. The Army's proposal, although in the right direction, is too late.

Any Amery proposal to increase troop strength, although well intentioned, will be meaningless to address the security situation. Yes, more troops are needed; but they cannot be added quickly enough to contain the situation.

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The Commander in Chief -- the President -- has failed to lawfully wage war; and has ineffectively managed this illegal adventure. His disaster does not bind us to what is illegal; nor may we be required to support what is not lawful.

The President has illegally waged unlawful warfare; and has continued his illegal rebellion against the rule of law and US Constitution.

He has already committed grave braches of Geneva. Under the laws of war, any nation may lawfully try him for war crimes and execute him. The American States also have the power to prosecute him for war crimes.

The DoJ Staff knew, or should have known, of the legal memoranda and option to lawfully prosecute the President, but failed to work with the State Attorney Generals to protect the Constitution. They remain complicit with illegal war crimes planning.

It is irrelevant what excuses the lawyers give, how much they point to legal theories, or to what extent they whine about the "rush" of events of 9-11. Before 9-11, illegal NSA monitoring was well underway; and Viet Dinh and others allegedly crated the illegal Patriot Act. It doesn't matter what information they had; what excuses they had; or what they say. The net result of the unlawful opinions and illegal legislation was unconstitutional conduct, and violations of the Geneva Conventions.

They failed to remove themselves, and are allegedly complicit with unlawful war crimes planning, policies, orders, and grave braches of Geneva.

There is no reasonable expectation that any DoJ Staff counsel, lawfully convicted of war crimes planning, should not be lawfully punished with the death penalty.

The question is whether they will freely end this illegal rebellion; or whether foreign fighters are invited into the nexus to do what the Untied States did in Yugoslavia: Remedy a breakdown of law and orders, and preserve the rule of law through the use of combat forces.

There are only two forums: The court, or the battlefield. Despite refusing to recognize the law, and losses on the battlefield, Americans choose to support illegal warfare. America is isolated, outnumbered, and on an unsustainable trajectory.

The American legal community has failed to credibly demonstrate it is a self-governing organization. Unlike the days of the Founding Fathers when legislators and lawyers were presumed to have more time to learn the law and become experts on affairs of the states, the tables and turned and it is the job of the non-government actors and citizens to know the laws of war better than the American government. Without this knowledge, this government can be fully expected to wage illegal war, and pretend it is someone else's problem.

This problem rests with the American government officials, contractors, and civilians who had the power to speak out, share their solutions, and prevent the abuse of power and illegal warfare.

Americans have shown their hypocrisy of the WWII Nuremburg Trials: When the US didn't want to follow the laws of war, it illegally threatened nations with economic sanctions. Despite this threat, third world countries have refused US economic aid, and are distancing themselves from the Americans, working with other nations who do not illegally threaten them. Americans have learned that even vulnerable, weak, and poor will not cooperate with what is not lawful. Other nations have options.

Americans have learned the hard way how political agendas, as the Nazis had during WWII, can drive illegal activity. Eventually, there is a limit, then the world rallies and lawfully ends, then destroys what is not acceptable.

Americans must decide whether you are for the rule of law; or whether you are going to attempt to defend what is illegal. The world has no reason to accept what is not acceptable; Americans have already exhausted all lawful military options, and are losing.

Americans must accept they have been defeated before the law and on the battlefield. This is far from over. There will be more lawful destruction of the failed institutions. The American legal community cannot credibly blame others: When they had the knowledge and legal experience to act, and assert the rule of law, they rolled over. There was no excuse. There is no defense.

It remains to be seen how many American lawyers are lawfully executed. Nobody should have any sympathy for them: They knew better; and failed to rise above the republican manipulation and press for facts, and stay within the confines of the law.

It doesn't matter their reason or motivation: They permitted war crimes; failed to stop them; and made excuses not to enforce the rule of law. Americans didn't tolerate those excuses of the Germans, or their grand notions of how they wanted to enslave other people so the Germans could enjoy a nice standard of living.

Arguably, American contractors did the same in Iraq: They hoped to abuse power, get other people to do illegal things, then extract profits. Americans have been found out. It is not lawful for Congress to spend money on illegal things; no amount of auditor firings will prevent war crimes prosecutors form gathering evidence to lawfully prosecute contractors and others illegally working with the American government to manufacture reasons for an illegal war.

American military contractors have failed to remove themselves from the illegal support for the unlawful genocide still being committed against Iraqis. Contractors know, or should know, that their weapons, munitions, and spare parts are being used to support what is not lawful; and cannot be legal under the laws of war: targeting innocent civilians, then US troops placing evidence by the civilians to justify the illegal buses

The full scope of the American war crimes in Iraq has yet to surface. The troops are silent, confused, and know their actions are not lawful. As they return from combat, listen to their stories, record what you hear, and ensure the evidence is made available to war crimes prosecutors.

Remind the troops they volunteered to wage illegal warfare, and despite knowing the laws of war, they chose to remain silent about the war crimes. They had a duty to report, and not participate in the war crimes.

Americans will have to come to grips with the emerging evidence, shootings, and slaughter of Iraqi civilians. American troops are not well trained, they are poorly disciplined, and they do not have a loyalty to the Constitution. They have a higher loyalty to power, abuse of power, and the right to inflict damage on civilians.

The American military was rightfully chastised for committing abuses. Yet, rather than accept the rebuke for their stupidity in following illegal orders, American military personnel hope to change the subject to the accusers. This, like the words of the Congress in the illegal Military Commissions Bill, is evidence they have not accepted Geneva, and are not showing any remorse for the Genocide they waged.

American troops may not lawfully or credibly claim slander. They remain alleged war criminals, but they do not have the legal power to compel Americans to be silent; nor shed crocodile tears and claim their "good name" has been slandered or defamed.

Flag and Field Grade officers -- Generals and senior officers -- have a responsibility to set the example. This Joint Staff, and their senior officers have failed to fulfill their duties. they have permitted grave breaches of Geneva, followed illegal wars, and blame the American public for stating such.

Just as Americans will have to turn the legal community upside down, and lawfully target the DoJ Staff counsel and US Attorneys for their reckless defiance of their oaths; so too will Americans have to turn the political and military power upon the military personnel who defy their oaths, and wage illegal war.

It remains up to the Joint Staff and Military leadership whether you freely choose to assent to the laws of war; or whether your illegal combat operations, rebellion, and unlawfully insurrection against the Constitution and laws of war must be subdued through the lawful use of force, foreign fighters, or continued losses on the battlefield.

American military personnel must decide whether you are with this President's illegal rebellion; or whether you are going to lawfully surrender, return to your barracks, and await lawful orders. If you refuse to withdraw your illegal support for war crimes, you remain a lawful target -- as were the Yugoslavians -- for war crimes prosecutions, and lawful combat targets.

The only answer is the Constitution, laws of war, and assent to the rule of law. The wrong answer is to make excuses, as the Germans did, for supporting what is not lawful. Either way, the DoJ Staff and American military personnel have brought discredit upon themselves, their service, and the United States Government. To redeem yourselves, you should lawfully volunteer to face battlefield justice, and ask forgiveness from the insurgents you have illegally targeted and abused.

Whether you survive is of little interest. May you lawfully redeem your lost honor by asking the Iraqis forgiveness, and voluntarily accept that the free, democratic people of Iraq will continue to wage lawful war against you until you lawfully remove yourselves from your illegal war crimes.

Americans claim they are fighting for democracy in Iraq. The Iraqi people have spoken -- Americans must leave immediately, or you will be lawfully destroyed on the battlefield. Democratic forces in Iraq have freely chosen to accept that Americans will not accept legal requirements or the laws of war; and know that Americans will only wage an illegal, losing war.

Americans problem is that it does not accept that a free people in Iraq have chosen to defy illegal war; and have freely chosen to stand up to abuse an illegal occupation, than accept what they never had to accept under any tyrant.

Americans cannot claim you went to Iraq for honorable purposes, while rebuking free people who freely chose to engage in the only forum Americans recognize -- the battlefield. American was not in Iraq to spread democracy or freedom -- but to illegally impose an unworkable system on a people in an unworkable situation.

It is not the job of the Untied Stats to find or manufacture problems, to impose illegal solutions, then leave others with the mess. The world has the power and lawful right to bring this war to a conclusion. If American refuses to lawfully end its illegal combat operations in Iraq, the world will have no choice but to bring illegal war to America.

Americans are outnumbered. American military forces have proven incapable in moving to respond to hurricane efforts. There is nothing America's defeated military can do to protect American civilians.

The choice is simple. Americans must end their illegal abuse of power in Iraq, accept the democratic decision of the Iraqi people to end the unlawful activity; or the world will lawfully rally against the United States, and bring the warfare to American industry, contactors, government, and financial institutions which continue to support this illegal warfare.

Industrialists, contactors, and others who asked for immunity in the illegal military commissions bill can lawfully be targeted for prosecution, war crimes, and legally executed for supporting, and failing to remove themselves from supporting illegal warfare.

The same carnage which we saw in Dresden and Tokyo could credibly occur in the Untied States. This is not a threat, nor is it an attempt to invoke a panic. The simple message is for the leadership within corporate America to accept that you have individually and collectively permitted your resources and material to be illegally used or unlawful warfare; in a like manner, your material support makes you a lawful target for war crimes prosecutors, and a reciprocal strike by foreign fighters. You must end what you are doing, or you will be ended as an entity.

If Americans do not wish to suffer like abuses as we have seen in Tokyo and Dresden, it is time for the American civilian leadership to work lawfully, peacefully, and calmly to ensure that all illegal material support for the continuing war crimes in Iraq ends. If you fail to end your effort, you too may be lawfully added to the list of those who have been allegedly complicit with illegal war crimes planning.