Toronto Star: History will judge

[marmar]

History will judge
It is clear now that officials involved in alleged post-9/11 abuses may never be charged. But there are other kinds of justice

By Olivia Ward Foreign Affairs Reporter
Published On Sun Jan 03 2010


"The airport police came and chained my wrists and ankles. They took me in a van to a place where many people were being held . . . I kept asking but they would not tell me what was happening. At 1 a.m. they put me in a room with metal benches in it . . . there was no bed and the lights were on all night. I was very, very scared . . ."

– Testimony of Maher Arar to U.S. Congress hearings on rendition to torture, October 2007



It's all over but the shouting. The Iraq occupation is winding down. The countdown for American withdrawal from Afghanistan has begun. The trumpets of war are playing Taps. And George W. Bush and his nest of hawks have flown the coop.

Or have they?

As the second decade of a broken century limps into view, some in the United States and abroad are doing the math and demanding an accounting. They reject the argument that the horrific 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington excuse the shredding of the rule of law that came with the "war on terror."

They say the legitimization of torture, the trampling of civil liberties, the violation of international law, and a dubious declaration of war that claimed more than 4,000 American and 100,000 Iraqi lives are not just miscalculations but crimes.

War crimes, in fact. "This administration did more than commit crimes," argues Scott Horton, an expert on international law and contributing editor of Harper's magazine. "It waged war against the law itself." ..............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.thestar.com/news/insight/article/745189--history-will-judge?bn=1

[Demeter]

1. It's Not Too Late For That. Hope Springs Eternal

As long as the criminal lives, he can be punished. And after death, reviled.

[DavidDvorkin]

2. They will never suffer for it

Not the top dogs, anyway. They'll never be punished.