War criminal Radovan Karadžić has finally been arrested, after 13 years:
But on Monday his false identity was broken, his mask pulled away, and secret police officers arrested Radovan Karadzic, one of the world’s most wanted war criminals for his part in the massacre of nearly 8,000 Muslim men and boys in Srebrenica in 1995.If Karadžić lives to be convicted (Slobodan Milošević died before his trial ended), a good many people will feel the touch of justice.He had been sought by international prosecutors since he vanished from view in 1996.
It gives one hope that another war criminal might eventually face trial.
No, I’m not really comparing them.[Yes, I am; see the comments section.] Nor do I think the latter is likely ever to be held accountable for his crimes. Still....
4 comments:
No, I’m not really comparing them
Why not? I suspect the families of those killed as a result of Bush's crimes are just as devastated as those affected by Karadžić.
Nor do I think the latter is likely ever to be held accountable for his crimes
Which is a shameful indictment of the hypocrisy of this nation. At least the Serbs, pariahs that they became, have eventually succumbed to reason (OK, so it was economically induced). It is pretty close to a 100% certainty that BushCo will *never* suffer any adverse consequences. Quite the reverse.
«Why not? I suspect the families of those killed [...]»
Well, yes, that’s a good question. See, I’d been thinking that the Bush massacre isn’t on the same level as the Bosnian massacres. But why?
The number killed? It says that around 8000 were killed as a result of Karadžić’s actions, and by any count the Bush war has done far worse than that, at least by an order of magnitude, possibly two.
The motivation? I’d had the thought that Karadžić did what he did out of hatred of the Bosnians. Does GWB have any less hatred of the Iraqis, really? And even if his motivation isn’t hatred, is motivation by greed (for money, power, or both) less bad?
The mechanism? Bush’s actions have gotten approval, promotion, and support through lies, double-dealing, underhanded sneakiness, a “good ol’ boys’ ” network. He’s gotten his buddies, his colleagues, and even some of his enemies to do his work for him.
No, you’re right, Ray. They do compare, and, if anything, Karadžić comes out the better in the comparison. I shall update the post.
I remember reading in a book about World War I that I had checked out from my local library (which another, later borrower apparently never returned) in which the author laid out the thesis that, once the massive military mobilizations began to take place, particularly on the part of the Germans, the rush to war became irresistible and the civilian government in all of the involved nations, be they democratic or autocratic, slipped into a rubber-stamping, subservient role to the military leaders. Could that have possibly happened in the U.S. with Iraq? When I saw the troops amassing on the Iraqi border in such a great degree as they did in late 2002/early 2003, it reminded me of this book. And I asked myself, has there ever been a large-scale, rapid military mobilization of one party on someone else’s border where that party’s forces didn’t invade the other country? I’ve had the unsettling feeling over the past few years that our military in the U.S. has had a disturbingly high amount of political input into this administration. Just look at how high officers and Joint Chiefs of Staff are involving themselves in political debates in the media! And our current sitting president, for all his boasting about being a “decider”, has to be one of the weakest presidents ever, at least in my lifetime. He pretty much lets his cronies call the shots and then uses official press events to do his stand-up comedy routine! Has there ever been a president whose vice-president had such influence over policy?
Completely agree that George Bush is a war criminal. (Along with Cheney, Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, Feith, Addington, et. al.) There is an entirely apt comparison with Karadžić. But also agree that none of these U.S. criminals will ever face charges for what they have done. Justice will not be served. It's an appalling reality.
Post a Comment