How Dare They!
I suppose over the last three and a half years I should have had ample opportunity to get accustomed to the boundless arrogance and insensitivity of the Bush regime, but this still struck me as extraordinary:
US demands war crimes immunity
The UN Security Council is expected to vote tomorrow on whether US Peacekeepers should have immunity from prosecution when on UN missions.
In the last few weeks the world has been treated to a whole stack of news stories showing exactly why NOBODY should have a "free pass" in international law. Strangely enough lots of those stories (but by no means all of them) involved the US.
Since the current occupying force in Iraq doesn't have a UN mandate, I assume the resolution wouldn't affect troops there anyway. But, just to make sure, apparently the US and UK are seeking legal immunity for their boys in Iraq when sovereignty is handed over:
Coalition seeks Iraqi immunity
It's like some sort of return to feudalism: apparently it's fine to lock people away without trial, subject them to torture and then photograph yourself gloating over the battered corpses. Provided you're a citizen of a nation at the top of the hierarchy and they're from somewhere down at the bottom. Well, until there's a huge public outcry anyway. Does anyone out there believe that any of those "bad apples" would have been seriously punished if the press hadn't got hold of the story?
US demands war crimes immunity
The UN Security Council is expected to vote tomorrow on whether US Peacekeepers should have immunity from prosecution when on UN missions.
In the last few weeks the world has been treated to a whole stack of news stories showing exactly why NOBODY should have a "free pass" in international law. Strangely enough lots of those stories (but by no means all of them) involved the US.
Since the current occupying force in Iraq doesn't have a UN mandate, I assume the resolution wouldn't affect troops there anyway. But, just to make sure, apparently the US and UK are seeking legal immunity for their boys in Iraq when sovereignty is handed over:
Coalition seeks Iraqi immunity
It's like some sort of return to feudalism: apparently it's fine to lock people away without trial, subject them to torture and then photograph yourself gloating over the battered corpses. Provided you're a citizen of a nation at the top of the hierarchy and they're from somewhere down at the bottom. Well, until there's a huge public outcry anyway. Does anyone out there believe that any of those "bad apples" would have been seriously punished if the press hadn't got hold of the story?