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TechnoratiBringing Rumsfeld to Justice
"Men are being brought to this black business hoodwinked. They are to be drawn in by degrees, until they cannot retreat ... we are breaking through all those sacred maxims of our forefathers, and giving alarm to every wise man ... that all his rights depend on the will of men whose corruptions are so notorious, who regard him as an enemy, and who have no interest in his prosperity."
Couldn't have said it better myself. I've been thinking of this quotation since I learned Friday that in the "Court of First Instance" (Tribunal de Grande Instance) Donald Rumsfeld was charged with war crimes. Why Friday? Because Rumsfeld was in France and French law requires that the accused be in the country when charged. Hey, what's Rumsfeld doing in France? I thought he didn't like "Old Europe."
This isn't the first time either. He's also been charged in five other countries including Germany. Since World War II, Germany's had a zero tolerance policy on war crimes - so they get a jump on things, they don't require that the accused be present. But the French charges could get real interesting. Some of the former prisoners of Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib now live in France and they can testify.
The little soliloquy above is from a guy worried about his country irrationally going to war. Basically, he thought that the war wasn't about justice; it was about plundering natural resources for personal gain. To compound his reservations, he feared that his countrymen had underestimated the will of the locals to defend themselves and that spelled disaster. He believed that his country stood on much nobler ideals and would lose its reputation, its integrity and eventually its place on the world stage.
The quotation comes from 1775. A guy named George Johnstone said it. The one-time British governor of West Florida thought that King George III underestimated the difficulty of forcing people so far away to comply with his demands.
But the majority in Parliament believed that their superior firepower would quickly stun the rabble into compliance. A little "shock and awe" would do the trick - a couple of pre-emptive blasts from the royal canons and everyone would fall into line.
Gee, if Rumsfeld had read a few history books over those years between serving in the corrupt Nixon administration and 2001, he might have avoided the German charges of waging an illegal, pre-emptive war - not to mention learning the folly of burning people's homes. After widely publicizing their plans to attack what would become Portland, Maine the British bombarded the city, completely destroying it.
Boy did George Washington use that to rally the troops. I mean that guy just wouldn't let it go. He got soldiers to fight by reminding them of their ruthless enemy.
You know Rumsfeld's ignorance might be understandable if this was Nairobi's history, but it's ours. Sigh.
The charges levied in France have little to do with the war per se. No, they accused Rumsfeld of authorizing and harboring knowledge of torture. Now there's no excuse for that, I mean Rumsfeld's been to Wall Street!
Just down from the stock exchange, on the other side of the street, is a commemorative plaque that points out where the British tortured our soldiers in a POW camp during the revolutionary war. I guess I don't have to tell you what old Gen. Washington did with that little bit of information.
"They are brought in by degrees until they can not retreat." Just like Johnstone: a lot of our elected officials think that we got sucked in and can't withdraw. But if folks can't look backward and learn, they eventually learn from their own mistakes. And sooner or later we'll learn that in the face of senseless destruction, plundered natural resources, careless disregard for the rule of law and torture of their countrymen, rebellion is so well fueled that invading forces retreat.
The Royal Mayor of London, John Wilkes, foretold in 1775 "we shall be considered as their implacable enemies and the grandeur of the British Empire will pass away."
Unless the trial in France succeeds and "men whose corruptions are so notorious" are brought to justice we will never be grand again.
Pat LaMarche of Yarmouth, Maine is the author of "Left Out In America: The State of Homelessness in the United States."
© 2007 The Bangor Daily News
16 Comments so far
Show AllOctavius...
Uh...Rumsfeld isn't African....therefore HE is ignorant of African history. Much like it's probably safe to say that you are ignorant of Krygyzstan's history.
Seriously, did you just see the word "Nairobi" and assume the whole post was some slam on Africans?
I believe it was Nietzsche who said,"In every party there is a member who, by his all too devout pronouncements of the party's principals, leads the others to apostacy."
...you just became THAT member.
And hell, get some ancestral pride while we're at it. My family came from Ireland... but I don't call myself a European, why do you call yourself an African? Claim the country you're family is from. Claiming a whole continent is pretty vague and generalizing. Are you saying that ALL Africans are the same? Regardless of where they are from, be it Egypt, Morocco, or Lesotho? That's pretty demeaning to all Africans.
And just what the hell do you actually mean by 'You know Rumsfeld's ignorance might be understandable if this was Nairobi's history, but it's ours.'?
Do you actually know anything, anything at all, about the history of Kenya, or are you just using an African place name because hey, all us Africans are ignorant?
Asshole.
The French
History lessons do not help people who are to stupid to get the message. As far as the French go, they love to criticize the United States. If the French had any backbone they would have arrested criminal Rumsfeld before he was able to escape from their country. If they ever do have a trial, it will be meaningless. They will be shaking the finger of condemnation at the United States once again, but not doing a damn thing to back up their convictions. They allow the murderer, and torturer to get away, and then they proclaim, what a bad man that American was. The French can take their self righteousness, and sit on it.
The USA population, for the most part, has internalized the values and morales of the war machine.
Most citizens cannot think rationally, indeed, have been conditioned to believe whatever the MSM puts out for the kleptocracy.
Just for the record, it's Ms. LaMarche. She was the Green Candidate for Vice President for the Green Party in 2004.
Here again the only candidate showing the need to pursue these criminals is Dennis Kucinich. See, here's how this lays out. Every special interest group in this country has a highly paid, highly effective lobbyist looking out for THEIR special interest EXCEPT one..... 'We the People'. Why do you think so many 'we the people' don't even bother to go to the polls to vote any more? It's because everyone else is eating their lunch by way of THEIR special lobbyist. The average tax paying American justifiably feels no one is interested in him. Dennis Kucinich is offering to be THE top lobbyist for 'We the People', because he sees that all the other special interests are getting all the goods and leaving the average tax paying citizen in the dust. Kucinich knows that the destruction of the Constitution IS the destruction of 'We the People'. That's why , to be consistent, he HAS to go after this CRIMINAL Bush Cabal, and will do so willingly. The man of Conviction, will convict em'.
It would admittedly be far short of justice, but I for one would very much enjoy to see Rumsfeld - and others of course - find himself unable to visit France, Germany, and hopefully a growing list of countries for fear of arrest.
At this point I don't believe true justice is possible. What could possibly amount to justice for this butcher of bushland.
Seditious is right. Nothing is going to happen, proving that might makes right. This is why Clinton and Bush opposed the International Criminal Court, and Congress agreed. The strategy allows us to pontificate about the shortcomings of governments we don't like while committing atrocities ourselves.
At least somebody is doing something. Even if it isn't US doing it...
Nothing will actually happen to Rumsfeld. If the French courts do find him guilty, it will most likely be 'in absentia' and he'll walk scott free.
The don't have the death penalty in France. Rumsfeld must be tried in Iraq or Cuba where his most flagrant crimes took effect.
At the same time, I should add that the conservative view should not be excluded from universities.
Mr. LaMarche,
You mention how Rumsfeld needs to "read a few history books." It does not matter how many history books Rumsfeld reads. He is a Cold War hawk, who like Cheney, still is stuck in the Cold War mentality, hell bent on eradicating communism, and keeping the United States in a state of perpetual war (after all, one of the Republican beliefs is having a strong and active military), among other reasons (too many to list). If you really wanted to give a more accurate description, these guys abide by their own sense of history, which is far different from what is taught in academic institutions. Lynne Cheney will tell you this since she wants to essentially burn all history books, fire all historians, and hire new, conservative historians to write history texts strictly focused on Euroamerican centrism. It is really telling coming from someone who has a Ph.D. in English Lit. and once was the President of the National Endowment for the Humanities. In all honesty, it makes me wonder if these people passed their history classes in college??
What are the French going to do when Schrub goes over to France to say "Howdy" to Sarkozy? Is Cheney planning any trips to France or Germany in the near future? Oh, Oh, how about George Tenet?
If the French do, they'll be further demonized. Besides, Sarkozy is a fascist like Rumsfeld. The best thing could be to arrest him in France and send him for trial in Sweden.
I would love to see Rumsfeld stand trial for his myriad of war crimes.
The French are always bashed by our media it's a concerted effort with malice. The fact that they don't always follow our fascist Oligarcy's script is the main reason.
At this point with their complicty you could add all of congress and our CIA controlled media to the list.
Two wars, both illegal invasions based on the crime of 9/11[domestic terrorism][inside job].
They should oil up that old guillotine of theirs.