Arrest Dubya, Please!

It would be progress for civilization if Bush and Cheney could be arrested at Berlin’s Tegel Airport.

According to the world press, a horrifying crime against humanity has been committed. Serious human rights violations have taken place. Since it may be assumed that government attorneys – whether they be somewhere in Spain or somewhere in Berlin – all read newspapers, it should also be assumed that charges will soon be filed against known and as yet unknown perpetrators, and that they, should they come within reach, will be taken into custody pending investigation.

The two chief al-Qaeda suspects alone were subjected to the illegal practice of water boarding 266 times. President Obama has since prohibited water boarding, released secret documents pertaining to the torture, promised the CIA torturers immunity from prosecution but has recently put a decision on hold regarding the culpability of those officials responsible for approving torture. He doesn’t want to preempt Justice Department officials from possible action in the event laws were broken. Above all, that has to do with tactical political considerations.

But the international community must not be prohibited from taking action in this matter. Genocide is punishable by the International Criminal Court. Spain’s examining magistrate, Baltasar Garzon, issued the international arrest warrant for Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet. Pinochet must now take into consideration the fact that he will be taken into custody if he ever leaves Chile. [Pinochet died December 10, 2006.]

Those responsible for gross human rights violations shouldn’t get off so easily. It’s likely that George W. Bush and Dick Cheney wouldn’t consider it punishment if they had to spend the rest of their lives in the United States.