Reports Amy Goodman — whose hour-long broadcast today includes an exclusive, extensive interview with journalist Naomi Klein on the shooting of Giuliana Sgrena (Klein just interviewed Sgrena in Rome) — a “new group of prominent Iraqi lawyers said at a conference in Baghdad this week that President Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair should be tried as war criminals for the occupation of Iraq, highlighting the massive assaults on the city of Fallujah. More below : : :
RELATED HEADLINE:
A day after Iraqi commanders claimed a joint operation with US forces killed more than 80 resistance fighters at a training camp outside of Baghdad, reporters who visited the camp are contradicting that claim. Journalists from Agence France Press and other agencies say they saw 30 to 40 fighters at the lakeside training camp attacked by US and Iraqi forces the day before, claiming they had never left. One of the fighters said only 11 resistance fighters were killed in airstrikes on the site. Local hospitals told AFP they had received no casualties from the battle. Meanwhile, on the political front Shiite political leaders say the new parliament could convene for the second time ever early next week to nominate its speaker and the country’s president. The Shiite parties are expected to take 16 to 17 ministries in the new government.
More headlines — including that Sgrena has been released from the hospital — are at Democracy Now!. If you can’t listen or watch, the transcripts are usually up by 10:30 AM PST or a bit later.
I cannot find a news story that complements Goodman’s report about the group of Iraqi lawyers / Bush & Blair / Fallujah. I believe her … I’d just like to read more about it, but I can’t find it! Anyone else?
,,,
I’m listening to the Klein interview about Sgrena. It’s a MUST-SEE or hear or read. (If you have DISH, you can watch at 9AM/4PM/9PM PST on Free Speech TV, and again at 3PM PST on LinkTV.)
US President George Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair deserve life sentences, with the possibility of parole after 25 years, for the war crimes and genocide in Iraq, according to a lawyers’ panel.
Speaking on Monday at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan, Kohki Abe, a professor of law at Kanagawa University, said they should face the “maximum penalty available”. That would not include the death penalty, however, as the members of the tribunal opposed capital punishment, he added.
Abe is the chief justice of a four-person panel of the International Criminal Tribunal for Iraq (ICTI) that has judged the two leaders guilty of a series of charges.
The tribunal has headquarters in Istanbul, Turkey, and a final meeting of regional panels is scheduled for June.
link
Thank you so much. Will have to check into ICTI.
This account, however, differs from what Goodman reported. From how she wrote it, I thought it was a group of Iraqi lawyers. Juan Gonzales said it was a “newly formed group.”
There are bound to be a squillion groups of lawyers and everybody else commenting on US-UK policies.
uruknet didn’t have anything, I’ll keep an eye out.
I wrote to Democracy Now.
The war on Iraq violated US and international law. It was a war of aggression – violating the same principles as Germany’s aggression against the rest of Europe in the 1930s and 40s. Crimes against the peace are a violation of the basic principles of civilization, and lead to a less safe world soceity in a lawless state. The principles behind international and US laws prohibiting crimes against the peace (wars of aggression) are based on the simple premise that more harm than good comes from aggressive war as a means of resolving conflicts. In place of aggressive war is the UN, the right of states to defend themselves, and the system of alliances that allows other states to aid those under attack. George Bush has done more to destablize the world than anyone since Adolf Hitler. He should be condemmed for this foolish approach to international politics, and be tried for crimes against the peace, crimes in the conduct of war and crimes against humanity.
I doubt this is what bush had in mind when he continues to repeat that inane phrase of his. And I also doubt this will ever make the MSM as any kind of ‘new’s story. (well maybe the Daily Show or KO)