Rumsfield could face possible arrest

Here

Apparently Germany charged Rumsfield with war crimes under their legislation that allows prosecution for such crimes across international borders. The German government has officially stated that they will arrest Rumsfield should he attend a conference in the country next month.

I'm still wondering what would happen if they did. I seriously doubt that the US would entertain an armed conflict with Germany, so I imagine that if they did do it they would be safe in doing so.

Especially after the independently documented warcrimes committed by the US... and this arrest the German government is proposing is only over Abhu Gharib!

But if they do arrest this guy, there will no doubt be a lot of hot water brewing.

Still something should be done about the atrocities that are being committed.

Have they said if they will also arrest Tony Blair? Seeing as Britain has committed the same exact crimes I would find it rather interesting if germany decided not to go after him as well.

So far, I don't think so. I'd look into it more if I was better able to read German legalese.

That would be kind of cool if they did arrest him.

Woohoo!

Cheney on that list?

I don't see it happening. They always seem to weasel out of things.

I can't stand Rummy, but I am not really sure how I feel about this. Somehow singling out Rummy just feels wrong. Unless they are planning to try Condie, Blair, Bush, Cheney, Powell, Ashcroft and the assorted others who had a hand in this mess, I can't really give props to Germany for making such a divisive move. Something just stinks about the whole matter.

The German Government made this move because they know they will never have the chance or the balls to carry it through. Posturing seems to be their strong suit and they can't even carry that off well.

Perhaps we should arrest German and French officials for disregarding UN sanctions and doing business with Iraq when it was distinctly forbidden. Both countries secured or tried to secure lucrative oil deals while there were sanctions and got caught with their pants down.

Do any of you really think the Germans or French actually cared about Iraq? They cared about the oil options they were fostering and the US invading fucked their plans up bad.

Haliburton aka Cheney did the same in Iran during sanctions.

Not one person, organization or country involved in the middle east has clean hands. Germany has an obvious hard on for Rummy and they are flipping him off pretty much. There are others just as guilty if not moreso of war crimes. And I'll remind you that I really don't like the screwball, I just think this is stinky business.

The BBC article above says a complaint was filed with German federal prosecutors by American lawyers for Iraqis claiming to have been abused by the US military. The German prosecutors have not taken any action on the complaint.

Has the German government has actually decided to act on the American complaint and arrest Rumsfeld? I haven't heard that anywhere. And it doesn't fit with Gerhardt Schroeder's attempts yesterday to wine and dine Condi Rice.

Yeahhhh... Germany has a LOT of room to charge people with war crimes.

Aye... I was thinking quite the same. Seen through the lens of history, this thread is quite hillarious.

Eh, paybacks a bitch. *shrug* Quite honestly, I'd like to see people start getting arrested for warcrimes and the like. It might wake the American people up a bit and make 'em see exactly what the hell really is going on.

Eh, ok, sorry, had a bit of a fantasy moment there. Forgot that most Red Americans are inherently stupid and blind. *sigh*

I think you will find that Germany has changed considerably since the days of the Nazis. Also, Godwin's Law may be invoked here.

Considering they were already charged a long time ago and the country has been cleansing itself of that tired and negative stigma people so easily place on it.

I'm still not sure how I feel about this, wether it's posturing or realistic and the consquences and merits thereof; but I do think it's a serious situation.

Cheney has been photographed several times smiling and shaking hands with many middle-eastern leaders and Rumsfield has now been openly accused of war-crimes on the international stage.

As for the point about Germany trying to score lucrative oil deals -- what do you think the US has been doing this whole time? They went to war with Iraq against the will of the UN as well. Point being, no one is perfect and everyone has some dirty laundry.

But at least Germany wasn't abusing POWs and needlessly ordering the deaths of civilians... and if there are undeniable traces of evidence pointing to these people, shouldn't SOMEONE arrest them?

Maybe Rumsfield is just a start. To see if it works. Maybe it is just a bunch of blow-hard tactics. I dunno... all I do know is that most people can agree that Rumsfield has something to do with some atrocities against humanity that have been committed by the US led forces in Iraq.

I was thinking a similar thing, though for different, more mundane reasons.

Why should their legal system be any faster than ours? Who's to say this isn't the first of many? Maybe it's just taking a while?

I will lay odds that germany if they are serious about this will charge only Americans. Germany doesn't have the balls to charge Briton or any other country...Lets face it's bash America days and everyone wants in. As an american i'm sick to fucking death of being told how rotten and evil I am when every other country has committed crimes as well.

As far as the UN is concerned it's a worthless piece of shit ...it's predecessor the league of nations was the same thing. Look at all the UN officials that were taking kickbacks from the oil for food program. How can you have such an establishment without every nation being represented and when only a small handfull have a full vote?

Talen, I think you missed this thread, by the way.

I don't think the media means you specifically Talen.

I've made a lot more american friends since being a part of SL. And while some support Bush and the actions of the current administration -- a lot don't. Either way, I think most people can make the distinction between actuality and generalizations.

Personally I find it more appropriate to say "the American administration/government" rather than "the Americans." I'd only use the latter if I was discussing their collective culture.

However, wether it's manifest destiny or plain old greed, the American administration and the American culture likes to think it is the centre of the international universe -- and so it will get a lot of attention and a lot of scrutiny.