6th December 2011
As I have previously reported for Wake Up World, both former President of the United States George W. Bush and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair have been found guilty by a war crimes tribunal in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
While this victory was mostly a symbolic one, it is not the only place in which people are pushing back against the war criminals that have operated with impunity for far too long.
The world’s outrage with the activities of the former President of the United States are surfacing across the globe, as seen in February of this year when Bush was actually forced to cancel a trip to Geneva, Switzerland.
After Amnesty International gave Swiss federal prosecutors an in-depth legal and factual analysis of Bush’s criminal culpability for his role in acts of torture he allegedly authorized, Amnesty International concluded that the Swiss government had enough information to open a criminal investigation.
If Bush entered Switzerland, they would be forced to pursue an investigation due to their international obligations, and the result of the war crimes tribunal in Malaysia just makes the pressure on Bush that much stronger.
Another group pushing for justice in the case of Bush’s involvement in the authorization of torture and the illegal invasion of Iraq, the Center for Constitutional Rights, said they “have no doubt he cancelled his trip to avoid our case.”
His visit to Switzerland would have been his first European trip since he published his memoir Decision Points.
In Decision Points, Bush clearly says that he authorized the use of waterboarding on suspected terrorists at Guantanamo Bay.
Although some would allege that this isn’t torture, like the Daily Caller which characterizes it as “an act of simulated drowning considered by many human rights advocates to be torture,” most people who claim such a thing quickly change their tune when they actually experience the horrors of waterboarding.
I would challenge anyone who believes it is not torture to get a friend to immobilize their arms and legs, turn them upside down, cover their face with a thin cloth of some kind, and then repeatedly pour water onto their face, over and into their breathing passages.
However, any sane friend would refuse to do this or stop the second the subject started experiencing the sensation of drowning which happens almost instantly and continues throughout the entire horrific procedure.
Switzerland is not the only nation coming under international pressure to arrest Bush, indeed there were calls from Amnesty International once again for Ethiopia to arrest Bush during his trip to Africa.
Last week, Amnesty International urged the governments of Ethiopia, Tanzania, and Zambia to arrest Bush during his visit to Africa in an official press release.
They cite the fact that “there is enough evidence…to trigger requirements for Ethiopia, Tanzania and Zambia to investigate his alleged involvement in and responsibility for torture, and to secure his presence during the investigation.”
Capital FM News out of Kenya is reporting that while many Ethiopians agree with Amnesty International in saying that Bush should be arrested and charged, they do not believe it is the duty of their country to carry this out.
One radio show host, Abiy Demilew, made this point in saying, “Bush is a criminal. But Ethiopia should not be involved in arresting a former US president. We would pay for that in our relations with the US.”
Unfortunately I have to agree with Demilew’s statement, as the system in Washington would undoubtedly retaliate against any nation brave enough to step up to the Western imperialistic power.
This is especially true in the case of a nation like Ethiopia that would be impacted considerably by any changes in relations.
It seems that for many countries, practicality and fiscal concerns outweigh the moral duty to bring Bush to justice.
Senior political analyst Dr. Azaveli Lwaitama makes this point to Capital FM News in saying, “the Tanzanian government needs every coin it can get, even from the devil.”
However, he does point out their hypocrisy in adding, “A few weeks ago when David Cameron said that anti-gay attitude in this country would mean British aid drying up, the same government people talked about neo-imperialism. You now have the bigger imperialist Bush here and they are clapping.”
Ethiopia’s government did not officially respond to the call from Amnesty International to arrest Bush but a senior government official commented, “basically this is between the US and Amnesty.”
The unfortunate reality that we must consider is that the current American President Barack H. Obama, is just as bad, if not worse in some ways, than George W. Bush.
I think it would be a bit foolish to believe that Obama – who also supports torture, indefinite or “prolonged detention” as he calls it, along with the bombing of innocents in Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia and elsewhere, not to mention the extra judicial murder of American citizens – would bring Bush to justice seeing he is guilty of the same crimes against humanity.
We can only hope that some country will step up to the plate and catch Bush by surprise, giving him no warning of their plans until they slap the cuffs on him and haul him off to a dark hole somewhere until he is brought to trial and likely convicted.
Madison Ruppert is the Editor and Owner-Operator of the alternative news and analysis database End The Lie and has no affiliation with any NGO, political party, economic school, or other organization/cause. He is available for podcast and radio interviews. If you have questions, comments, or corrections feel free to contact him at [email protected]
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