A lawsuit in Germany will seek a criminal prosecution of the outgoing Defense Secretary and other U.S. officials for their alleged role in abuses at Abu Ghraib and Gitmo.
Submitted by Scorpio (not verified) on Fri, 2006/11/10 - 3:08pm.
This isn't even a surprise. I rather expected that the rest of the world was going to have to seek out our war criminals because politically this country can't manage to prosecute its own. Germany, especially, was on the prosecuted end for a solid generation. They know the rules. Now they want to give back the learning.
Breaking: Case dropped after Bush flies to Munich, turns down the lights, turns up the Marvin Gaye and follows up on the backrub he gave Angela Merkel.
Submitted by Josh (not verified) on Sat, 2006/11/11 - 4:32am.
Your headline "Germany to prosecute Donald Rumsfeld" is just plain wrong!
The German prosecutors have not made any decision. whether Rumsfeld shall be investigated or not.
The plaintiffs are Iraqis, not Germans. The plaintiffs are supported by an American NGO, not a German NGO. They WANT to have a criminal investigation in Germany, but it is doubtful whether they will get one.
They have not even contacted the German prosecutors yet. They have just issued a press release, picked up by TIME magazine.
German prosecutors have dismissed similar cases in the past.
Good catch Josh. Also, a NGO is a non-governmental organization. While this was my mistake and no reflection on R. Neal, the KnoxViews proprietor, it is interesting to see that KnoxViews was mentioned in the Atlantic Review article:
• Wonkette: "Federal prosecutors in Germany have a different idea: They'd like to charge him with war crimes."
• All Headline News: "Germany To Charge Senior U.S. Leaders With Terror Prison Abuses"
• The Conservative Voice: "The top prosecutor in Germany will file lawsuits against Donald Rumsfeld, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, former CIA Director George Tenet and other senior Bush Administration officials and civilians, Time magazine reports. "
• KnoxViews: "Germany to prosecute Donald Rumsfeld"
etc etc.
Time Magazine has written a pretty easy to understand article, and yet these publication and dozens (hundreds?) of bloggers get it wrong.
I do not agree however that the Time magazine article is pretty easy to understand since it says, " New legal documents, to be filed next week with Germany's top prosecutor, will seek a criminal investigation and prosecution of Rumsfeld, along with Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, former CIA director George Tenet and other senior U.S. civilian and military officers, for their alleged roles in abuses committed at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison and at the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba."
I would submit that the Time article is actually difficult to understand and that "hundreds" of bloggers, including myself, and numerous publications all got it wrong.
I would also observe that it does not matter who the plaintiffs are but who the prosecutor is. If it is a German prosecutor, then how is the title incorrect?
This isn't even a surprise. I rather expected that the rest of the world was going to have to seek out our war criminals because politically this country can't manage to prosecute its own. Germany, especially, was on the prosecuted end for a solid generation. They know the rules. Now they want to give back the learning.
They left off: "America expected not to notice"
---
SayUncle
Can't we all just get a long gun?
How quickly we forgot Rummy. Sniff.
True happiness is knowing you are a hypocrite. -- Ivor Cutler
Breaking: Case dropped after Bush flies to Munich, turns down the lights, turns up the Marvin Gaye and follows up on the backrub he gave Angela Merkel.
Dems' scream "appeasement."
Case is back on when, the moment President Bush gets within two feet of the German chancellor, Merkel knees him in the nuts.
"Sexual Healing" indeed.
Your headline "Germany to prosecute Donald Rumsfeld" is just plain wrong!
The German prosecutors have not made any decision. whether Rumsfeld shall be investigated or not.
The plaintiffs are Iraqis, not Germans. The plaintiffs are supported by an American NGO, not a German NGO. They WANT to have a criminal investigation in Germany, but it is doubtful whether they will get one.
They have not even contacted the German prosecutors yet. They have just issued a press release, picked up by TIME magazine.
German prosecutors have dismissed similar cases in the past.
This is explained in more detail here:
Link...
Good catch Josh. Also, a NGO is a non-governmental organization. While this was my mistake and no reflection on R. Neal, the KnoxViews proprietor, it is interesting to see that KnoxViews was mentioned in the Atlantic Review article:
I do not agree however that the Time magazine article is pretty easy to understand since it says, " New legal documents, to be filed next week with Germany's top prosecutor, will seek a criminal investigation and prosecution of Rumsfeld, along with Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, former CIA director George Tenet and other senior U.S. civilian and military officers, for their alleged roles in abuses committed at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison and at the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba."
I would submit that the Time article is actually difficult to understand and that "hundreds" of bloggers, including myself, and numerous publications all got it wrong.
I would also observe that it does not matter who the plaintiffs are but who the prosecutor is. If it is a German prosecutor, then how is the title incorrect?
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