Cheney, Bush, lawyers and travel plans

Henry Kissinger is said to have to consult his attorneys before traveling abroad to be careful not to land in countries where he might be arrested and charged with war crimes or crimes against humanity, particularly in connection with the coup in Chile in 1973.

Cheney and Bush and Rummy and a few others might be well-advised to take the same approach: Court 'can envisage' Blair prosecution by Gethin Chamberlain Sunday Telegraph 03/17/07; El fiscal del Tribunal de La Haya ve posible imputar a Blair y a Bush por la guerra de Irak El País/EFE 18.03.2007. Chamberlain reports:

Tony Blair faces the prospect of an International Criminal Court investigation for alleged coalition war crimes in Iraq.

The court's chief prosecutor [Luis Moreno-Ocampo of Argentina] told The Sunday Telegraph that he would be willing to launch an inquiry and could envisage a scenario in which the Prime Minister and American President George W Bush could one day face charges at The Hague. ...

America has refused to accept the court's jurisdiction and is unlikely to hand over any of its citizens to face trial. However, Britain has signed up and the Government has indicated its willingness to tackle accusations of war crimes against a number of British soldiers.

Back in 2003, Dear Leader Bush was asked about a Pentagon announcement that countries that didn't support the Iraq War would not be permitted to bid on reconstruction contracts. A reporter was so crude as to ask the Frat-Boy-in-Chief if that was legal under international law. "International law? I better call my lawyer," he replied with his signature smirk. Maybe that's not such a bad idea, after all.

Tags: bush, international criminal court, iraq war