Cheney accused of war crimes
BBC | A top aide to former Secretary of State Colin Powell has launched a stinging attack on US Vice-President Dick Cheney over abuse of prisoners by US troops. Col Lawrence Wilkerson accused Mr Cheney of ignoring a decision by President Bush on the treatment of prisoners in the war on terror.
Asked by the BBC’s Today if Mr Cheney could be accused of war crimes, he said: “It’s an interesting question.”
“Certainly it is a domestic crime to advocate terror,” he added.
“And I would suspect, for whatever it’s worth, it’s an international crime as well.”
This is an extraordinary attack by a man who until earlier in the year was Mr Cheney’s colleague in the senior reaches of the Bush team, the BBC’s Justin Webb in Washington says.
Col Wilkerson has in the past accused the vice-president of responsibility for the conditions which led to the abuse of prisoners.
But this time he has gone much further, appearing to suggest Mr Cheney should face war crimes charges, our correspondent adds.
Intelligence questions
He said that there were two sides of the debate within the Bush administration over the treatment of prisoners.
Mr Powell and more dovish members had argued for sticking to the Geneva conventions, which prohibit the torture of detainees.
Dick Cheney has been accused of advocating the use of terror |
Meanwhile, the other side “essentially wanted to do away with all restrictions”.
Mr Bush agreed a compromise, that “Geneva would in fact govern all but al-Qaeda and al-Qaeda look-alike detainees”.
“What I’m saying is that, under the vice-president’s protection, the secretary of defence [Donald Rumsfeld] moved out to do what they wanted in the first place, even though the president had made a decision that was clearly a compromise,” Col Wilkerson said.
He said that he laid the blame on the issue of prisoner abuse and post-war planning for Iraq “pretty fairly and squarely” at Mr Cheney’s feet.
“I look at the relationship between Mr Cheney and Mr Rumsfeld as being one that produced these two failures in particular, and I see that the president is not holding either of them accountable… so I have to lay some blame at his feet too,” he went on.
In the BBC interview, Col Wilkerson also developed his views on whether or not pre-war intelligence was deliberately misused by the White House.
He said that he had previously thought only honest mistakes were made.
But recent revelations about doubts in the intelligence community that appear to have been suppressed in the run-up to the war have made him question this view.
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17 Responses to “Cheney accused of war crimes”
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mike hunt
Posted: May 1st, 2008 at 5:27 pm | Link to this
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Big Dick
Posted: May 1st, 2008 at 6:12 pm | Link to this
ReplyCheney should be impeached & indicted for war crimes & crimes against the American people. It was Cheney who controlled the 911 WTC bombings & plane attacks. Having said that, All Bush neocons should be held responsible for 911 & starting illegal wars in the Middle East!
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Petr Vojta
Posted: May 1st, 2008 at 6:15 pm | Link to this
ReplyInformed people in Europe would like to see Neozionist leaders of Israels satelite state called US “ALL” inpeached and end to US support of Terrorist Rasist place called Israel with its Nasi regime.
Cheneys diplomacy is not “search for peace”, but “maddnes in search for wars”!!!!! -
EF
Posted: May 1st, 2008 at 6:27 pm | Link to this
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thomas van orden
Posted: May 1st, 2008 at 7:07 pm | Link to this
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chris
Posted: May 1st, 2008 at 7:46 pm | Link to this
ReplyImpeached? The government isn’t going to idict itself. The second amendment was made for times like these.
When all the peaceful and proper roads have been closed, there is always that which is neither peaceful nor necessarily proper.
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Drutch
Posted: May 1st, 2008 at 8:41 pm | Link to this
ReplyThis government is in full “loot everything before it all burns” mode. The last days of the US empire are coming to a close. Many peolpe try to tell me that, “Oh, this happened in 1929 and we came out of it.” or, “Oh, nothing happened as a result of Viet Nam (violent revolution).”, but there are many, many dynamics in play now. Our economy is crashing, our fule has become unaffordable, our food is becoming unaffordable, the middle class is all but extinct. When a nation is starving, being oppressed and desparate, that nation will revolt. We will revolt against the world around us or revolt against our government. Either case, when we attack Iran and the lines are drawn. The US will be attacked from outside and from within. Thanks for the memories.
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pingback:
Posted: May 1st, 2008 at 8:54 pm | Link to this
truthseeds.org » Blog Archive » truthseeds 5/1/08Reply[…] Cheney accused of war crimes A top aide to former Secretary of State Colin Powell has launched a stinging attack on US Vice-President Dick Cheney over abuse of prisoners by US troops. Col Lawrence Wilkerson accused Mr Cheney of ignoring a decision by President Bush on the treatment of prisoners in the war on terror. […]
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pingback:
Posted: May 2nd, 2008 at 3:31 am | Link to this
Cheney accused of war crimes « Xenophilia (True Strange Stuff)Reply[…] But recent revelations about doubts in the intelligence community that appear to have been suppressed in the run-up to the war have made him question this view. - rinf […]
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Jules
Posted: May 2nd, 2008 at 4:19 am | Link to this
ReplyGod, I wish the bloody Americans would hurry up and revolt!!!
We’re all paying for the impotence of the US people…
GET UP AND GET GOING, AMERICA - we’re waiting and getting hungry too!!!
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trackback:
Posted: May 2nd, 2008 at 4:53 am | Link to this
www.buzzflash.netReplyCheney accused of war crimes
A top aide to former Secretary of State Colin Powell has launched a stinging attack on US Vice-President Dick Cheney over abuse of prisoners by US troops. Col Lawrence Wilkerson accused Mr Cheney of ignoring a decision by President Bush on the treatmen…
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Anne Johnson
Posted: May 2nd, 2008 at 3:28 pm | Link to this
ReplyHave any of you googled “impeach cheney” lately? I think it might help those of you who need to be enlightened. Cheney’s a dreadful excuse for a human being. Watch Frontline’s “Cheney’s Law”. Do some research on the Project for a New American Century. It’s all on line.
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aeskylos
Posted: May 2nd, 2008 at 4:19 pm | Link to this
ReplyThe problem with putting Cheney on trial is that the only way you can execute him is putting a stake through his heart. This could be interpreted as a cruel and unusual punishment, therefore mankind is stuck with him forever. I think that he is the first vampire vice president in our history but I have to check on that.
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Dallas112263
Posted: May 2nd, 2008 at 4:31 pm | Link to this
ReplyBoy I get a kick out listenin’ to you Brits… Such brave armchair revolutionaries, ready at moments notice to castigate Americans for their inaction and failure to revolt… Let’s see, when was the last English Civil War? Been a few centuries, huh… The memory of the blood of brothers spilled in combat on the same field is fading a bit, eh? Well, it is still relatively fresh on this side of the pond and I would further point out that if Americans ever wish to refresh our memories of the joys of civil strife, we need only look back to the 1960’s or tour the still blackened ruins of South Central Los Angeles.
No my friends revolution and civil war is a very serious business, not something one can engage in while raising children and holding down the old 9 to 5… But those who truly admire America can take heart, for though our Constitution may be under assault it has weathered worse and America and the world has prospered by its success. The tilt toward the needs of Capital and the amoral behavior of the stateless minions of the Corptocracy will be balanced, the crimes that led America to the brink of dictatorship will be addressed, but they will be addressed by Americans, using our ballots to defend our liberty.
As long as we can speak freely there will be no revolution, when you can no longer hear our voices, then you will know…
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Tehranchik
Posted: May 3rd, 2008 at 3:00 am | Link to this
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mbenet
Posted: May 6th, 2008 at 5:32 pm | Link to this
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pingback:
Posted: May 11th, 2008 at 5:04 pm | Link to this
American Fascism News: Martial Law, Police State Actions, Continuity of Gov’t Plans, Military Integration and more « Hope2012Reply[…] Plans, Military Integration and more May 11, 2008, 10:04 am Filed under: Uncategorized Cheney accused of war crimes by former Powell advisor - RINF […]
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