When Criminals Invoke the Rule of Law

The Bush administration has been bandying about "The Rule of Law" lately and that has me worried. Recently, Incurious George used it to distinguish civilized folks from the bad guys, "terrorists exploit grievances that can be blamed on others, democracy offers the rule of law." This week, Bush's Attorney General, Alberto "Thumbscrews" Gonzales hit Baghdad, again pushing this rule of law business on the current management of that disaster.

What profound hypocrisy. Here is Shrub, the man who holds himself above the law, preaching the rule of law as democracy's greatest virtue. This guy doesn't consider himself subject to the laws of the United States, the American constitution, or international law. Georgie knew that, under international law that bound the United States and everyone else, war could only be launched against another country in two circumstances, either in self-defence against an imminent attack or by sanction of the United Nations Security Council. When he realized that getting the nod from the Security Council was a complete non-starter, he conjured up the Weapons of Mass Destruction nonsense to claim self-defence as his excuse.

Make no mistake about it, he who launches a war of aggression is a war criminal. George W. Bush is a war criminal. Tens of thousands of innocent lives have been lost as a result of his crimes. Even two out of three Americans now realize that there was no justification to this war, that Iraq had nothing to do with the events of September 11, 2001 or world terrorism. This was a war of sheer, bloody-minded aggression. Hey, it was America itself that established the principle that a war of aggression is a war crime. They just left out the part that it only applies if the aggressor isn't an American.

Of course, George Bush doesn't consider himself subject to the rule of law, the very same principle he rightly claims underpins democracy. He doesn't even consider himself subject to his own country's laws, even its constitution. Secret arrests, secret detention, torture, renditions, warrantless wiretaps and who knows what else we just haven't heard about yet. Time and again when Congress passes laws, George puts his name to them but only with signing statements that make clear he doesn't consider himself bound by them.



In a democracy, all men, even the head of state, are subject to the rule of law. A leader who places himself above and outside the law is a despot, a tyrant, a criminal.

We have signed on to a War Without End (WWE) being waged and directed by war criminals. How can we expect this to end well for the Middle East, for us or for democracy?