THE BUSH / CHENEY GENOCIDE: THE DEATH OF A NATION, Opednews.com
by Professor Fandel
February 4, 2008
It is way past the time for us to face reality and take action!
The Bush/Cheney "crowd," past and present, have committed high crimes against the US Constitution, humanity, and the planet at the level of genocide. They have misused the powers that the US citizenry faithfully gave to them and paralyzed the economy and quality of life in the US. As such it is my firm belief that ALL of those who perpetrated these crimes against the US Constitution should be arrested and indicted. Impeachment is not enough!
Although these crimes are not limited to the myriad war crimes related to the illegal and undeclared Iraq war, particularly in light of all the senseless loss of life that has occurred while on their watch, I believe that arrest, indictment, conviction, and imprisonment after Bush and Cheney have left office is the only firm punishment for the whole lot of them.
When the US Congress was still under Republican oversight, a bill was passed that exempted the Bush/Cheney gang from being punished for war crimes committed against "detainees." But this does not exempt them from the World court AFTER they leave office. They have committed a merciless genocide of the morals, standards, and laws of the US and the World, as well as the lives of the people of the world. It is time to work to get them in front of The Hague after they leave office.
Here's part of what I have gathered to date from reputable sources that justifies the arrest and indictment of those in the Bush/Cheney administration who sanctioned or committed crimes against the US, humanity, and the planet...although there is much more!
THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION
Declined to sign the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, to sign a World Health Organization treaty with the aim of reducing the 4-million people who die worldwide from tobacco related diseases every year. Bush and his administration did this because of the donations they recieved from the tobacco companies. The USA is one of the few countries not to sign.
Tobacco could be called the biggest weapon of mass destruction...
GEORGE W. BUSH CRIMES
1. Bush broke international law when he ordered the USA to attack Iraq without UN sanction.
2. Bush defied the UN again when he refused to close Guantanomo Bay prison after the UN declared the prison to be a torture chamber and in violation of international law.
3. Bush set up Guantanamo intentionally outside of US jurisdiction to try to avoid judicial oversight, implying that he knew that the activities there would be in violation of USA and international law.
4. Bush secretly and illegally wiretapped USA citizens' domestic communications, which is an illegal and secret invasion of USA citizens' privacy. These were undertaken without a judge being notified and without supplying legal oversight of wiretapping/phone/internet surveillance, which is in direct violation of USA law. Meanwhile, the Republican-led Congress tried to amend the law to make it legal for a president to conduct this sort of secret activity.
5. Bush and his administration condoned and created illegal, secret, overseas prisons where prisoners are held without due process and are tortured.
6. Bush created the Patriot Act, which sanctions unconstitutional invasion of privacy, secret requests for wiretaps, and other practices from secret judges. USA citizens and others have no knowledge of the invasion of their privacy, no access to records of activities, and no recourse when they are arrested and given no reasons for their arrests and denied access to legal counsell.
7. Bush has signed and continues to sign legislation that Congress passes, then, he adds personal statements that deny the implementation of the legislation or negate the laws.
8. Bush was told Saddam was not part of 9/11, was not part of Al Qeada, and was not trying to get nuclear material from Niger Africa. Yet, Bush lied to USA citizens and the International community when he claimed these accusations as true, or claimed that he been told these are true.
9. Bush was told the Iraqi situation continues to worsen. Meetings were held and graphs were presented that showed the grave increase in violence. Yet, such information was withheld from the USA citizens and the world, and Bush spokespeople have made counter-claims that the violence is decreasing.
LOOKING FARTHER BACK AT INTERNATIONAL CRIMES
1. In December 2001, the United States officially withdrew from the 1972 Antiballistic Missile Treaty, gutting the landmark agreement-the first time in the nuclear era that the US renounced a major arms control accord.
2. The 1972 Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention ratified by 144 nations including the United States. In July 2001 the US walked out of a London conference to discuss a 1994 protocol designed to strengthen the Convention by providing for on-site inspections. At Geneva in November 2001, US Undersecretary of State John Bolton stated that "the protocol is dead," at the same time accusing Iraq, Iran, North Korea, Libya, Sudan, and Syria of violating the Convention but offering no specific allegations or supporting evidence.
3. UN Agreement to Curb the International Flow of Illicit Small Arms, July 2001: the US was the only nation to oppose it.
4. In April 2001, the US was not re-elected to the UN Human Rights Commission, after years of withholding dues to the UN (including current dues of $244 million)-and after having forced the UN to lower its share of the UN budget from 25 to 22 percent. (In the Human Rights Commission, the US stood virtually alone in opposing resolutions supporting lower-cost access to HIV/AIDS drugs, acknowledging a basic human right to adequate food, and calling for a moratorium on the death penalty.)
5. International Criminal Court (ICC) Treaty, to be set up in The Hague to try political leaders and military personnel charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity. Signed in Rome in July 1998, the Treaty was approved by 120 countries, with 7 opposed (including the US). In October 2001 Great Britain became the 42nd nation to sign. In December 2001 the US Senate again added an amendment to a military appropriations bill that would keep US military personnel from obeying the jurisdiction of the proposed ICC.
6. Land Mine Treaty, banning land mines; signed in Ottawa in December 1997 by 122 nations. The United States refused to sign, along with Russia, China, India, Pakistan, Iran, Iraq, Vietnam, Egypt, and Turkey. President Clinton rejected the Treaty, claiming that mines were needed to protect South Korea against North Korea's "overwhelming military advantage." He stated that the US would "eventually" comply, in 2006; this was disavowed by President Bush in August 2001.
7. Kyoto Protocol of 1997, for controlling global warming: declared "dead" by President Bush in March 2001. In November 2001, the Bush administration shunned negotiations in Marrakech (Morocco) to revise the accord, mainly by watering it down in a vain attempt to gain US approval.
8. In May 2001, refused to meet with European Union nations to discuss, even at lower levels of government, economic espionage and electronic surveillance of phone calls, e-mail, and faxes (the US "Echelon" program),
9. Refused to participate in Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)-sponsored talks in Paris, May 2001, on ways to crack down on off-shore and other tax and money-laundering havens.
10. Refused to join 123 nations pledged to ban the use and production of anti-personnel bombs and mines, February 2001
11. September 2001: withdrew from International Conference on Racism, bringing together 163 countries in Durban, South Africa
12. International Plan for Cleaner Energy: G-8 group of industrial nations (US, Canada, Japan, Russia, Germany, France, Italy, UK), July 2001: the US was the only one to oppose it.
13. Enforcing an illegal boycott of Cuba, now being made tighter. In the UN in October 2001, the General Assembly passed a resolution, for the tenth consecutive year, calling for an end to the US embargo, by a vote of 167 to 3 (the US, Israel, and the Marshall Islands in opposition).
14. Comprehensive [Nuclear] Test Ban Treaty. Signed by 164 nations and ratified by 89 including France, Great Britain, and Russia; signed by President Clinton in 1996 but rejected by the Senate in 1999. The US is one of 13 nonratifiers among countries that have nuclear weapons or nuclear power programs. In November 2001, the US forced a vote in the UN Committee on Disarmament and Security to demonstrate its opposition to the Test Ban Treaty.
15. In 1986 the International Court of Justice (The Hague) ruled that the US was in violation of international law for "unlawful use of force" in Nicaragua, through its actions and those of its Contra proxy army. The US refused to recognize the Court's jurisdiction. A UN resolution calling for compliance with the Court's decision was approved 94-2 (US and Israel voting no).
16. In 1984 the US quit UNESCO (UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) and ceased its payments for UNESCO's budget, over the New World Information and Communication Order (NWICO) project designed to lessen world media dependence on the "big four" wire agencies (AP, UPI, Agence France-Presse, Reuters). The US charged UNESCO with "curtailment of press freedom," as well as mismanagement and other faults, despite a 148-1 in vote in favor of NWICO in the UN. UNESCO terminated NWICO in 1989; the US nonetheless refused to rejoin. In 1995 the Clinton administration proposed rejoining; the move was blocked in Congress and Clinton did not press the issue. In February 2000 the US finally paid some of its arrears to the UN but excluded UNESCO, which the US has not rejoined.
17. Optional Protocol, 1989, to the UN's International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, aimed at abolition of the death penalty and containing a provision banning the execution of those under 18. The US has neither signed nor ratified and specifically exempts itself from the latter provision, making it one of five countries that still execute juveniles (with Saudi Arabia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Iran, Nigeria). China abolished the practice in 1997, Pakistan in 2000.
18. 1979 UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. The only countries that have signed but not ratified are the US, Afghanistan, Sao Tome and Principe.
19. The US has signed but not ratified the 1989 UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which protects the economic and social rights of children. The only other country not to ratify is Somalia, which has no functioning government.
20. UN International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, 1966, covering a wide range of rights and monitored by the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. The US signed in 1977 but to date, it has not ratified.
21. UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, 1948. The US finally ratified in 1988, adding several "reservations" to the effect that the US Constitution and the "advice and consent" of the Senate are required to judge whether any "acts in the course of armed conflict" constitute genocide. It is important to note that these "reservations" were rejected by Britain, Italy, Denmark, the Netherlands, Spain, Greece, Mexico, Estonia, and others.
22. Is the status of "we're number one!" Rogue overcome by generous foreign aid to given less fortunate countries? The three best aid providers, measured by the foreign aid percentage of their gross domestic products, are Denmark (1.01%), Norway (0.91%), and the Netherlands (0.79), The three worst: USA (0.10%), UK (0.23%), Australia, Portugal, and Austria (all 0.26).
(Copyright, Richard Du Boff, Reprinted for fair use only.)
There is litte doubt left in my astute mind about the level of moral and physical genocide committed by the Bush/Cheney White House from the time they hit office.
Shame on us. If we no longer look at this, if we continue to do nothing about this, we deserve what we get.
http://inyourworld.blogstream.com
I am a college professor, journalist, poet who has published many articles and books on fundraising for education and the arts, and more. I have been an op-ed columnist for the Iowa City Press-Citizen newspaper. I am a Jallaludin Rumi scholar who lectures throughout the world on the words, teachings, and life of this 13th-century Sufi mystic poet, who today is among the most popular poets. This year, 2007, celebrates the 800th birthday of Rumi. I have designed and co-authored a book and DVD, "Mystery Box," to be published on September 30, 2007, in honor of Rumi's birth and life.
My goal is to tell the truth about what is happening in our world. I work for very little, other than that, and oftentimes as I write or communicate with young students just learning about the world, I break their hearts with these truths. But in the end, many understand that if they don't act to right the wrongs, to live a life of benefit to all, they will wither and become spiritually impoverished in a world of hatred. Not on my watch!
by Professor Fandel
February 4, 2008
It is way past the time for us to face reality and take action!
The Bush/Cheney "crowd," past and present, have committed high crimes against the US Constitution, humanity, and the planet at the level of genocide. They have misused the powers that the US citizenry faithfully gave to them and paralyzed the economy and quality of life in the US. As such it is my firm belief that ALL of those who perpetrated these crimes against the US Constitution should be arrested and indicted. Impeachment is not enough!
Although these crimes are not limited to the myriad war crimes related to the illegal and undeclared Iraq war, particularly in light of all the senseless loss of life that has occurred while on their watch, I believe that arrest, indictment, conviction, and imprisonment after Bush and Cheney have left office is the only firm punishment for the whole lot of them.
When the US Congress was still under Republican oversight, a bill was passed that exempted the Bush/Cheney gang from being punished for war crimes committed against "detainees." But this does not exempt them from the World court AFTER they leave office. They have committed a merciless genocide of the morals, standards, and laws of the US and the World, as well as the lives of the people of the world. It is time to work to get them in front of The Hague after they leave office.
Here's part of what I have gathered to date from reputable sources that justifies the arrest and indictment of those in the Bush/Cheney administration who sanctioned or committed crimes against the US, humanity, and the planet...although there is much more!
THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION
Declined to sign the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, to sign a World Health Organization treaty with the aim of reducing the 4-million people who die worldwide from tobacco related diseases every year. Bush and his administration did this because of the donations they recieved from the tobacco companies. The USA is one of the few countries not to sign.
Tobacco could be called the biggest weapon of mass destruction...
GEORGE W. BUSH CRIMES
1. Bush broke international law when he ordered the USA to attack Iraq without UN sanction.
2. Bush defied the UN again when he refused to close Guantanomo Bay prison after the UN declared the prison to be a torture chamber and in violation of international law.
3. Bush set up Guantanamo intentionally outside of US jurisdiction to try to avoid judicial oversight, implying that he knew that the activities there would be in violation of USA and international law.
4. Bush secretly and illegally wiretapped USA citizens' domestic communications, which is an illegal and secret invasion of USA citizens' privacy. These were undertaken without a judge being notified and without supplying legal oversight of wiretapping/phone/internet surveillance, which is in direct violation of USA law. Meanwhile, the Republican-led Congress tried to amend the law to make it legal for a president to conduct this sort of secret activity.
5. Bush and his administration condoned and created illegal, secret, overseas prisons where prisoners are held without due process and are tortured.
6. Bush created the Patriot Act, which sanctions unconstitutional invasion of privacy, secret requests for wiretaps, and other practices from secret judges. USA citizens and others have no knowledge of the invasion of their privacy, no access to records of activities, and no recourse when they are arrested and given no reasons for their arrests and denied access to legal counsell.
7. Bush has signed and continues to sign legislation that Congress passes, then, he adds personal statements that deny the implementation of the legislation or negate the laws.
8. Bush was told Saddam was not part of 9/11, was not part of Al Qeada, and was not trying to get nuclear material from Niger Africa. Yet, Bush lied to USA citizens and the International community when he claimed these accusations as true, or claimed that he been told these are true.
9. Bush was told the Iraqi situation continues to worsen. Meetings were held and graphs were presented that showed the grave increase in violence. Yet, such information was withheld from the USA citizens and the world, and Bush spokespeople have made counter-claims that the violence is decreasing.
LOOKING FARTHER BACK AT INTERNATIONAL CRIMES
1. In December 2001, the United States officially withdrew from the 1972 Antiballistic Missile Treaty, gutting the landmark agreement-the first time in the nuclear era that the US renounced a major arms control accord.
2. The 1972 Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention ratified by 144 nations including the United States. In July 2001 the US walked out of a London conference to discuss a 1994 protocol designed to strengthen the Convention by providing for on-site inspections. At Geneva in November 2001, US Undersecretary of State John Bolton stated that "the protocol is dead," at the same time accusing Iraq, Iran, North Korea, Libya, Sudan, and Syria of violating the Convention but offering no specific allegations or supporting evidence.
3. UN Agreement to Curb the International Flow of Illicit Small Arms, July 2001: the US was the only nation to oppose it.
4. In April 2001, the US was not re-elected to the UN Human Rights Commission, after years of withholding dues to the UN (including current dues of $244 million)-and after having forced the UN to lower its share of the UN budget from 25 to 22 percent. (In the Human Rights Commission, the US stood virtually alone in opposing resolutions supporting lower-cost access to HIV/AIDS drugs, acknowledging a basic human right to adequate food, and calling for a moratorium on the death penalty.)
5. International Criminal Court (ICC) Treaty, to be set up in The Hague to try political leaders and military personnel charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity. Signed in Rome in July 1998, the Treaty was approved by 120 countries, with 7 opposed (including the US). In October 2001 Great Britain became the 42nd nation to sign. In December 2001 the US Senate again added an amendment to a military appropriations bill that would keep US military personnel from obeying the jurisdiction of the proposed ICC.
6. Land Mine Treaty, banning land mines; signed in Ottawa in December 1997 by 122 nations. The United States refused to sign, along with Russia, China, India, Pakistan, Iran, Iraq, Vietnam, Egypt, and Turkey. President Clinton rejected the Treaty, claiming that mines were needed to protect South Korea against North Korea's "overwhelming military advantage." He stated that the US would "eventually" comply, in 2006; this was disavowed by President Bush in August 2001.
7. Kyoto Protocol of 1997, for controlling global warming: declared "dead" by President Bush in March 2001. In November 2001, the Bush administration shunned negotiations in Marrakech (Morocco) to revise the accord, mainly by watering it down in a vain attempt to gain US approval.
8. In May 2001, refused to meet with European Union nations to discuss, even at lower levels of government, economic espionage and electronic surveillance of phone calls, e-mail, and faxes (the US "Echelon" program),
9. Refused to participate in Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)-sponsored talks in Paris, May 2001, on ways to crack down on off-shore and other tax and money-laundering havens.
10. Refused to join 123 nations pledged to ban the use and production of anti-personnel bombs and mines, February 2001
11. September 2001: withdrew from International Conference on Racism, bringing together 163 countries in Durban, South Africa
12. International Plan for Cleaner Energy: G-8 group of industrial nations (US, Canada, Japan, Russia, Germany, France, Italy, UK), July 2001: the US was the only one to oppose it.
13. Enforcing an illegal boycott of Cuba, now being made tighter. In the UN in October 2001, the General Assembly passed a resolution, for the tenth consecutive year, calling for an end to the US embargo, by a vote of 167 to 3 (the US, Israel, and the Marshall Islands in opposition).
14. Comprehensive [Nuclear] Test Ban Treaty. Signed by 164 nations and ratified by 89 including France, Great Britain, and Russia; signed by President Clinton in 1996 but rejected by the Senate in 1999. The US is one of 13 nonratifiers among countries that have nuclear weapons or nuclear power programs. In November 2001, the US forced a vote in the UN Committee on Disarmament and Security to demonstrate its opposition to the Test Ban Treaty.
15. In 1986 the International Court of Justice (The Hague) ruled that the US was in violation of international law for "unlawful use of force" in Nicaragua, through its actions and those of its Contra proxy army. The US refused to recognize the Court's jurisdiction. A UN resolution calling for compliance with the Court's decision was approved 94-2 (US and Israel voting no).
16. In 1984 the US quit UNESCO (UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) and ceased its payments for UNESCO's budget, over the New World Information and Communication Order (NWICO) project designed to lessen world media dependence on the "big four" wire agencies (AP, UPI, Agence France-Presse, Reuters). The US charged UNESCO with "curtailment of press freedom," as well as mismanagement and other faults, despite a 148-1 in vote in favor of NWICO in the UN. UNESCO terminated NWICO in 1989; the US nonetheless refused to rejoin. In 1995 the Clinton administration proposed rejoining; the move was blocked in Congress and Clinton did not press the issue. In February 2000 the US finally paid some of its arrears to the UN but excluded UNESCO, which the US has not rejoined.
17. Optional Protocol, 1989, to the UN's International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, aimed at abolition of the death penalty and containing a provision banning the execution of those under 18. The US has neither signed nor ratified and specifically exempts itself from the latter provision, making it one of five countries that still execute juveniles (with Saudi Arabia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Iran, Nigeria). China abolished the practice in 1997, Pakistan in 2000.
18. 1979 UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. The only countries that have signed but not ratified are the US, Afghanistan, Sao Tome and Principe.
19. The US has signed but not ratified the 1989 UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which protects the economic and social rights of children. The only other country not to ratify is Somalia, which has no functioning government.
20. UN International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, 1966, covering a wide range of rights and monitored by the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. The US signed in 1977 but to date, it has not ratified.
21. UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, 1948. The US finally ratified in 1988, adding several "reservations" to the effect that the US Constitution and the "advice and consent" of the Senate are required to judge whether any "acts in the course of armed conflict" constitute genocide. It is important to note that these "reservations" were rejected by Britain, Italy, Denmark, the Netherlands, Spain, Greece, Mexico, Estonia, and others.
22. Is the status of "we're number one!" Rogue overcome by generous foreign aid to given less fortunate countries? The three best aid providers, measured by the foreign aid percentage of their gross domestic products, are Denmark (1.01%), Norway (0.91%), and the Netherlands (0.79), The three worst: USA (0.10%), UK (0.23%), Australia, Portugal, and Austria (all 0.26).
(Copyright, Richard Du Boff, Reprinted for fair use only.)
There is litte doubt left in my astute mind about the level of moral and physical genocide committed by the Bush/Cheney White House from the time they hit office.
Shame on us. If we no longer look at this, if we continue to do nothing about this, we deserve what we get.
http://inyourworld.blogstream.com
I am a college professor, journalist, poet who has published many articles and books on fundraising for education and the arts, and more. I have been an op-ed columnist for the Iowa City Press-Citizen newspaper. I am a Jallaludin Rumi scholar who lectures throughout the world on the words, teachings, and life of this 13th-century Sufi mystic poet, who today is among the most popular poets. This year, 2007, celebrates the 800th birthday of Rumi. I have designed and co-authored a book and DVD, "Mystery Box," to be published on September 30, 2007, in honor of Rumi's birth and life.
My goal is to tell the truth about what is happening in our world. I work for very little, other than that, and oftentimes as I write or communicate with young students just learning about the world, I break their hearts with these truths. But in the end, many understand that if they don't act to right the wrongs, to live a life of benefit to all, they will wither and become spiritually impoverished in a world of hatred. Not on my watch!
