Haiti, Baby Doc, GWB & Obama: Let the punishment fit the crime?
David Pratt, my favorite war correspondent (besides myself, of course), just wrote an excellent article describing the BBC's recent interview with Tony Blair -- wherein Blair repeatedly made embarrassingly ineffective attempts to excuse and defend his indefensible and inexcusable actions regarding the illegal invasion of Iraq ten years ago.
But one particular thing that Pratt wrote caught my eye bigtime. "Challenged in the interview [emphasis mine] on what kind of mandate or legal basis would be required for military action in Syria," wrote Pratt, "Mr. Blair dismissed the role of the UN as readily now as he did back in the days leading up to the Iraq war." http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/world-news/blair-still-misleading-on-the-middle-east.20380809
Might this actually mean that somebody in the British mainstream media actually came up with the integrity and guts to actually challenge Tony Blair live on national TV? That's amazing.
But where, exactly, was this brave and intrepid reporter back when we needed him most -- back in 2003, when nobody in the mainstream media ever challenged Tony Blair or even thought of challenging him. Nobody. And also, where were the intrepid reporters back then who had the cojones to challenge George W. Bush as well? 2003 was definitely not our mainstream media's finest hour.
But it's still not too late. Our mainstream media can still spring into action and demand the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth from Mr. Blair (and also from Mr. Bush and even from Mr. Obama as well) -- and win a Pulitzer Prize doing it too.
And then perhaps some intrepid souls in the mainstream media might even demand that the punishment fit the crime as well.
But Bush, Blair and Obama aren't the only ones who have happily murdered folks for fun and profit -- and gotten away with it too. Various courts in Haiti are, even as we speak, still trying to bring Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier into the dock of justice for his crimes -- and are equally having no luck.
27 years after committing innumerable horrible atrocities between 1979 and 1986, Baby Doc is finally being subpoenaed for his crimes. Hey, maybe 27 years from now, Blair, Bush and Obama may finally get subpoenaed for their crimes too!
However, Baby Doc's lawyers are apparently trying to postpone his trial, claiming that Duvalier's statute of limitations are up. According to IPS News Service, "Duvalier was first indicted for crimes against humanity in 2008 and then again in 2011. But last year, the court suddenly ruled that he would only be tried for embezzlement, saying that the alleged abuses had taken place too long ago." http://www.ipsnews.net/2013/02/all-eyes-in-haiti-on-duvalier-hearing/
No, no, no and no.
The statute of limitations for torture and murder are never, ever up -- no matter what "Zero Dark Thirty" might lead us to believe. Baby Doc must pay for his crimes. And so must Blair, Bush, Cheney and even Obama.
PS: I'm still trying to get to Haiti by the end of March, but so far things aren't looking so good. Why? Because of problems with money, transportation, in-country contacts and even hotel accommodations. But wouldn't it be any (non-mainstream-media) reporter's dream come true to sit in on Baby Doc's trial for murder in Haiti? That would be almost as good as being here in an American courtroom when Cheney, Bush and Obama go on trial for murder in the Middle East!
PPS: Since War Street has so obviously screwed up our own American interests in Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Palestine and Syria, what makes us think that a war on Iran is gonna go any better?
War Street, however, has not screwed up their own interests in these countries at all -- only ours. Trillions of dollars in profits have been pouring into War Street as a result of these cruel and unnecessary invasions. "Keep it coming!" cries War Street. And so Iran is now next. And once again all of us poor "sequestered" fools in America will be paying for this whole new war adventure for the rest of our lives as well.
Here's an article from the Washington Post that a friend of mine just sent me -- her sons have served in Iraq and Afghanistan as Marines so she keeps on top of this kind of stuff. The article's headline reads, "The U.S. may not have money for infrastructure repairs, but Afghanistan does." Maybe some people in the MSM are finally getting it right after all. http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/the-us-may-not-have-money-for-infrastructure-repairs-but-afghanistan-does/2013/02/27/c11b475e-7f9c-11e2-8074-b26a871b165a_story.html
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What next? I'm still trying to get to Haiti ASAP but unfortunately my investigative-reporting trip has had to be postponed until the end of March. Please donate toward my trip's expenses here if you can:
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