If the government was sincere about addressing atrocities, why not throw Bush and Cheney in jail?

[howard112211]

There is an "international consensus" on that too. Obama just gave us a pretty speech why crimes against humanity should not be ignored, and then turns around and continues to cover the asses of the biggest war criminals in US history.

And while he is at it, he could also set Bradley Manning free.

This is why I think there certainly is a "wag the dog" component to the action in Libya. Here you have a perfect opportunity to present oneself as the heroic champion of human rights, which is deeply ironic considering the terrible human right record of the US in the last decade.

[tavalon]

1. The government isn't sincere about much of anything except corporatism

I've noticed, haven't you?

[Vinca]

2. Best question ever.

[hobbit709]

3. If I had any sayso, they'd be in the dock at The Hague.

And not just Cheney and his sock puppet.

[cali]

4. Countries rarely prosecute their own

and pretty much never unless it's crimes against their own citizens. Look at Spain and Franco, for instance.

[howard112211]

5. Oh, I know. Just making an academic point.

Hell, Germans did everything they could to cover the asses of actual nazis after the war. Some even remained in high positions of power. Anyone who didn't get rounded up for the Nuremberg trials by the allied forces pretty much got away with whatever they had done. Except for the few that were assassinated by the RAF or the IDF perhaps.

[Solomon]

6. Because throwing them in jail would involve a long drawn out

all consuming trial first, unless we've become a mob that looks for the nearest tree.

[vicarofrevelwood]

7. IOKIYAR!

[felix_numinous]

8. We should clean our own house

before telling other people how to do theirs.

[pacalo]

9. K&R. Obama is living in the past: pre-2000 SCOTUS appointment. We're not *that* country anymore.

We cannot counsel other countries on humanitarian issues without looking like smug hypocrites.

[howard112211]

10. As Michael Moore put it: "The US military simply needs to sit in the time-out chair for a while"