We need war crimes trials applying the Nuremberg laws.

The damage we have done to Iraq and the Iraqi people makes us not just war criminals but monsters.

The US has killed more Iraqis than Saddam ever did. Killing over one million people is not spreading democracy, or improving the quality of anyone's life!
It is just, plain, killing over a million people. Period.

Everyone who reads these posts should select 10 friends / acquaintances who are ill-informed but progressive by nature and share website addresses such as Common Dreams. The only chance we have to save our country is to educate the masses - we can't do it by sitting in front of our computers and making each other feel good by sharing our thoughts with those who are already in our camp.

It must be alright as they are just Muslim terrorists and have no value. Born-again Bush communes daily with his father (in heaven) and finds out what is proper behaviour for our country. This administration is pro-life and that makes it all ok, as long as we prohibit all abortions everywhere for any reason. We are not too worried about children here after they are born as it is too expensive and we need the money for the occupation. That is why we do not want to support Hillary as she would push for proper health care for children, and she might even be concerned about the slaughter in Iraq.

Let's not forget:

"A reaction might take place as a result of the US government's hitting Muslim civilians and executing more than 600,000 Muslim children in Iraq by preventing food and medicine from reaching them. So, the US is responsible for any reaction, because it extended its war against troops to civilians." Osama Bin Laden on CNN, 1997

On May 11, 1996 Madeleine Albright, Secretary of State in the Clinton administration was asked by 60 Minutes correspondent Leslie Stahl about the reported 500,000+ Iraqi children who died in Iraq as a direct result of U.S. imposed sanctions. Her reply stunned many, "I think this is a very hard choice, but we think the price was worth it."

The history of the sanctions (rarely, if ever discussed in mainstream media) begins with the strategic bombings of critical infrastructure within Iraq during the 1st Gulf War. The U.S. dropped over 90,000 tons of bombs, intentionally destroying civilian infrastructure, including 18 of 20 electricity-generating plants and the water-pumping and sanitation systems. The bombings themselves were a direct violation of the Geneva Convention against the specific targeting of infrastructure "indispensable to the survival of the civilian population," thus making them a war crime.

Recently released de-classified documents from the Defense Intelligence Agency revealed that the U.S. knew full well that Iraqi water needed purification with chlorine in order to avoid "epidemics of such diseases as cholera, hepatitis and typhoid." Later documents revealed that the U.S.-imposed sanctions SPECIFICALLY embargoed the import of chlorine needed to purify the water systems. Additionally, the U.S. sanctions forbade the import of the parts needed to repair the damaged purification and sanitation systems.

The results of these actions are well documented. Colonel John A. Warner III wrote in Airpower Journal, "…as a result (of the destruction of these facilities), epidemics of gastroenteritis, cholera, and typhoid broke out, leading to perhaps 100,000 civilian deaths and doubling the infant mortality rate." Anupama Rao Singh, the United Nations Children's Fund Representative in Baghdad observed that food shortages were virtually unknown in Iraq prior to what the State department admitted were the "toughest, most comprehensive sanctions in history." Richard Garfield's universally accepted mortality studies put the number of Iraq children killed because of the sanctions at 350,000. The Lancet study, for the British Medical Society, estimated it at 550,000. Denis Halliday, the U.N. coordinator in Iraq called the sanctions, "a deliberate policy to destroy the people of Iraq," calling their implementation "genocide." His resignation in 1998 in protest received little if any coverage by the U.S. corporate media.

Some help we are to the Iraqi people...

Kernel:

"...and she might even be concerned about the slaughter in Iraq". As concerned as someone who voted for it, I suppose.

That U.S. scum always attacks the women and children because that weakens the targeted society. You can analyze any war that the U.S. has been involved in and you will find the same modus operandi. Everyone seems to credit the Nazis as being the worst regime in history, but if you investigate the events which define the U.S.'s domestic and foreign policies you will find that the Nazis were the Keystone Kops of evil when compared to the sustained policies of the U.S.A.

We need to throw out the entire US Congress, sign onto the ICC and then send every one of them to the Hague!

Vacant Seats: 5 House Dems, 28 Republicans will not run for re-election
http://peacecandidates.com/blog/nadia/01/31/vacant_seats_5_house_dems_28_r

When does it become genocide?

Maybe Madeleine Albright will again say that it is worth it as she did when asked if a half million Iraqis dying from the 1990's sanction was worth it.

Both McCain and Clinton should be repeatedly asked what it means to "win" in Iraq because there is no difference between them on this issue. The continual pass that the MSM gives them on this is rediculous. What is there to win and when will we have "won" it? OIL is the only thing that comes to mind.

The U.S. already lost. It's just a matter of going through the motions until it becomes painfully obvious.

The "Surge" is working.

http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=7920

"What is there to win and when will we have "won" it? OIL is the only thing that comes to mind."

Certainly, it's oil. From what I understand, more specifically, is getting the Iraqi parliament to sign a certain 'oil law' that will grant priviledged exploitation access to US oil companies, as well as other western companies. But the political opposition in Iraq to such a law is growing.

Tragically, we are not even killing as a way to pressure the Iraqi parliament. Our killing is just the result of our being there, and the high political costs of US deaths results in the use of tactics that spare the lives of US soldiers, relatively speaking, at the cost of more indiscriminate killings among Iraqis. An example is the increased use of air power, which is much less precise in targetting enemies than going door to door.

There must come a time when for the defense of those that can not defend themselves that when an empire imposes their will and tyranny indiscriminately, that empire must be removed by any means necesary.

It appears the U.S. is as racist as Israel when it comes to Arabs/Muslims. Apparently, to the imperialist warmongers, they have less value than dogs. (I've seen the way people in the U.S. pamper their dogs). Whatta country!!
:(

maybe the Iraqi Resistance should ask China for 500,000 well-trained, heavily armed volunteers to help Iraq drive the invaders.

Truly the devil is on the loose in the holy land. The end of this video shows what the country has been reduced to. http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=ef8_1201763684
The 1 million dead leave behind so many more millions filled with grief. Their anger and frustration grows with every day and every death. We are simply breeding hate now. There is nothing to win in Iraq. All that is left is a land filled with burned out buildings and ghosts. I doubt that any of them have a favorable opinion of America.

Every military method used in the US brutal occupation of Afghanistan, Iraq and Africa came from the israeli (IDF) play book, including using children as human shields. Add to that the number of duel Isreali-US citizens in the US administration and one can appreciate the full impact of why the entire global community resents the US and Israel.

JaneM asks: "When does it become genocide?"
Great question. I wonder when we'll see the UN coordinate with regional organizations to monitor and record the atrocities committed under US occupation. Whoops, I forgot! That can only happen in the Darfur because only black and brown people commit genocide; white people stop it by wearing t-shirts and getting George Clooney to make documentaries. (Sarcasm)

JaneM and killyt - here's some info on genocide in Iraq (most of this occurred with Bill Clinton in the White House)

source: http://www.cnn.com/COMMUNITY/transcripts/2001/01/16/halliday/

Former U.N. Humanitarian Coordinator for Iraq Denis Halliday opposes U.N.'s sanctions (Halliday was the head of the UN Oil for Food program in Baghdad)

CNN Moderator: In the program, you state that, "We cannot have the United Nations, the guardian of well-being, sustaining a regime of embargo or sanctions against a people that impacts only on the people, not on the government." You go so far as to call the sanctions genocide. However, can we have the United Nations rewarding a nation with financial aid after what many consider genocidal action against the Kurds and others?

Denis Halliday: That's a good question. But I think one needs to correct the impression of aid or assistance to Iraq because there is no assistance to Iraq. The government of Iraq finances everything Iraq receives under the oil-for-food program.

Secondly, we have a United Nations today that is governed by a Charter. Articles 1 and 2 of that Charter require that the sovereignty of member states be respected and that the United Nations work towards the well being of the people of the world. However, with the embargo in Iraq, we have a United Nations whose decisions in the Security Council have led to the deaths of possibly more than NOE MILLION PEOPLE in ten years. Now that is a tragedy. And that begins to meet some of the definitions of the United Nations Convention on GENOCIDE.

The current issue of Newsweek magazine has a major opinion editorial "The War Against Jihadism" calling for more of the policy and mentality that led to the occupation and bloodbath in Iraq. The author is George Weigel, "Distinguished Senior Fellow of Washington's Ethics and Policy Center". They neglect to mention that he is also one of the founding members of the infamous Project for a New American Century. I believe PNAC shut their doors and slunk out of town. But while they may be gone the people and ideas behind it are still very much alive and being promoted by the corporate media. Today. Please let Newsweek know what you think of George, his ethics, and his mainstream promoters.

Thanks, GW! And what 4,000 plus young Americans killed and 20,000 wounded or maimed for OIL!

And then GW, Cheney, et al wonder why the world hates America. Where is the justice? 1,000,000+ INNOCENT PEOPLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

welshTerrier2: Thanks for the link. I've looked for something like this for a while. It takes someone like Halliday, a person with integrity and a belief that the standards of humanitarian law apply to everyone, to say something like this.

This is the all too predictable result of letting viscious morons run your country. Bush is psychotic and doesn't feel any guilt for what he has done. I don't know what excuse we can use for congress and the rest of the administration. It's been years since they could use the excuse they were fooled.
The first Iraq war was bogus and a slaughter. The embargo and bombing under Clintion is unexcusable. W Bush is a continuation of the genocide that has been going on in Iraq since 1992.
Then the kicker, they did the 9/11 event to enable the whole mess.
Have a good day!

And this does not address the 7 million displaced - both inside and outside Iraq.

The refugee situation needs addressing or the 1 million will increase sharply in this worse than normal winter in the MidEast.

thank you, tommybones, for answering kemel's belief that Hillary would show concern for Iraq children.

That must be why Madeline Albright, of the "we think it's worth it" fame, is advising the Clinton campaign.

"The widely watched Web site Iraq Body Count currently estimates that between 80,699 and 88,126 people have died in the conflict, although its methodology and figures have also been questioned by U.S. authorities and others."

From reading this, one would never gather that the criticism of IBC is tht it fugures are too low.

Also, why did Reuters cite the 2003 Lancet report rahter than the later, 2006 report that estimated about 650,000 dead as of 2006.

More than one in ten Iraqi citizens are buried between the Bushes. I wonder what Faux News would say if 40 or 50 million American citizens had been slaughtered by an illegal invading force. It's not just Afghanistan and Iraq that have been destroyed by Corporate Cruelty and Avrice. We have destroyed our own future.

I followed 2 of the above links. The Holocaust Memorial Day one was chilling. I feel very ashamed to be an american. I used to work with someone who participated in the Basra road turkey shoot. He was not ashamed. He said that they killed all those retreating soldiers because they were "stealing" equipment. The americans didn't want them to have tanks, trucks or even cars.

The sympathy for the devil one was also chilling. What was with the ann coulter ad? Was this a link proud of the death and destruction that the US military is raining down upon the Iraqi people now?

Those soldiers were so young, so clearly having a good time rolling through Iraq with their really cool weapons. Support the troops? Those adobe houses causally destroyed. Has anyone tried to build with adobe? I have. It's slow, hard work. To take something that someone made with such care and blow it up for fun is so sick, I can't believe it.
The garden that someone clearly cared for, bombed. These kids don't have a clue what it means to cherish a place.

And how did the soldiers know to focus the camera on a place about to be destroyed by a bomb? Is this the airstrikes we're told are so wonderful, so advanced, that we must celebrate American know-how? All america knows how to do now is destroy and kill.

I am sickened by the callousness and cruelty that the US ruling class and its storm troopers represent.

Only a million? Wait another two or three years. it wll be more like genocide.

http://www.uraniumweaponsconference.de/background.htm

This story didn't make the front page of the New York Times today(http://www.nytimes.com/pages/index.html?partner=rssnyt), and all the corporate media continue to ignore it. It may not do much good, but there's a little satisfaction in writing the appropriate headline wherever we can write it:

UNITED STATES COMMITS GENOCIDE IN IRAQ

Who speeks for the murdered Iraqi civilians??? Who can bring charges of war crimes to the Hague??? Who will remember George W. Bush, Richard Cheney, Connie Rice Paul Wolfowitz, Richard Pearle, and the rest of these NeoCons who ordered this illegal war??? Are the U.S. Generals, who have, and still are in command, also liable for war crimes trials???

Who will bring these War Criminals into the Dock and make them pay for their crimes against the human race???

One more time:

UNITED STATES GUILTY OF GENOCIDE IN IRAQ

It doesn't do much good to write it on a progressive blog, but it's better than silence.

Ironic part is that Saddam was tried for killing far fewer.

We cannot allow the politicians to continue the killing. Democrats and Republicans alike need to be held accountable by being kicked out of office. Activists will be telling the Democratic Candidates for president how they feel tonight...
Anti-War Protest at Presidential Debate in Los Angeles Tonight!
http://peacecandidates.com/discuss/271/anti-war_protest_at_presidenti

Somebody has to keep these well-documented studies coming. The punch-pullers were at it
just yesterday, saying that thousands or
hundreds of thousands were dead.

A MILLION (AND MORE!). TELL IT LIKE IT IS
JUST ONCE, PUSILLANIMOUS AMERICAN JOURNALISTS!!!

The US oil firms have offered 5 million to each Iraqi member of Parliament to vote for the oil law. The US is trying to buy the Iraqi parliament into selling out its people. They think since they bought the American congress they can buy the Iraqi parliament. I think, but I am not sure, that they are about to discover that not everybody is as easily bought as an American politician.

1 million Iraqis killed for 3000 Americans killed one September day.

Is that enough revenge? Has moral equivalence been reached? Will Americans continue to support this so-called war?

Greenerthanthou: I hope you realize this is not new. The US has been a killer nation for over 200 years. Our country was built on theft, murder and slavery. Our country is corrupt to the core. Unlike Iraq, Iran, and North Korea, the axis of evil, the US is a plutocracy. Live with that.

Iraq was an authoritarian socialist government supported by the people.
Iran is a theocracy at odds with its people.
North Korea is a totalitarian dictatorship at odds with the people.

But none are a plutocracy, and if they are corrupt, it isn't quite as obvious as the US.

Can't be a problem.

It's only 1/6th of a holocaust.

wikipedia: Genocide is the deliberate and systematic destruction of an ethnic, or gender racial, religious or national group.

The official definition of genocide probably should be expanded to include the Iraq sanctions mass manslaughter. It's a crime of both intent and neglect. Much of the intent was to pressure the Iraqi people to revolt againts Saddam. Other intentions were to oppress any/all people at every available opportunity. The only reason genocide does not currently encompass the wider definition is that the "dear leaders" who negotiated the definition at the UN demonstrate such terrible weakness as "dear leaders" consistently do.

Part of the problem with Americans voting "least worst" corporate candidates for public office is they end up with these criminals like Hillary who are destroying the rule of law, and the rule of international law, thus preventing us from strengthening the laws and law enforcement. When you go to polls and vote "least worst" in November, you're enabling the mass manslaughter of the future "courtesy of the Red White and Blue".

A million and counting! Oh what a lovely war.

Tough week if you're an Iraqi with access to the News. It's like, "Hold up - this handful of loons told 935 lies in order to kill a million of my brothers and sisters for... what again? That's like a thousand dead per lie and stuff! Holy mackerel you God-blessed Americans are starting to piss us off... gotta stop reading the news, man..."

How long before we're forgiven, you know? How long would it take you?

Bidalo and greener than thou__ Do you realize what would have happened to Hillary if she had stuck her neck out with a very few others and voted against getting involved in the war? Several others have stated they did not think they were giving permission at that time to go to war. Remember, the Bush cabal did not ever tell anything straight as 935 lies attest to.

If she had voted against whatever it was and I am not sure anyone even knew exactly what they were voting on, she would have been pilloried as a soft on terrorism traiter woman. I expect many CD posters would have done the very same thing at that time under those conditions.

I am not convinced that Hillary is a cruel warmonger with no thought for others. She could surprise some of you if she got elected, regardless of the previous fiasco which caught most everyone in Congress not knowing what to do. By the same token, Obama could surprise some also once it was all his deal to figure out and he needed something besides warm thoughts.

It is genocide. That is exactly what the neo-cons who control the world's wealth want to happen. The planet is over populated with humans and the powers what are realize, the only effective means to correct that situation, is to kill off billions of humans. That only makes sense. Iraq is just one piece of the puzzle, besides there is oil there. There is much more genocide to come.

Don't think for a moment, that the Asian bird flu pandemic for just one example, is not one of the better andeasier methods. The only ones who will have an effective vaccine when that epidemic hits, are the military forces, medical personnel and the rich elite. Of course enough farmers and other servants to run the power plants etc required to serve the elite will be inoculated.

"1 million Iraqis killed for 3000 Americans killed one September day."

IRAQ HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH 9/11

It seems impeachment is not possible, in spite of a list of crimes against the Constitution and against our democracy and human rights and those of other countries, because of the lack of enough votes in the Senate.

Question: Can our esteemed Bush, Cheney and friends be referred to the Hague for war crimes trials while they are still in office?

Their assured conviction and imprisonment would work better than impeachment.