Sunday, October 30, 2005
Clumsy Cliches
"It's not the crime, but the coverup" may be appropriate to the Watergate burgling by the Nixon White House, but it's not nearly as apropos to the Cheney Administration's deliberate manufacture of justification for destroying Iraq. In the latter case, the elaborate White House conspiracy to defraud the US Congress and the United Nations, that led to the multitude of crimes against humanity, are the main story; the subsequent coverup is, relatively speaking, incidental, even if essential to eventual prosecutions under US or international law.
Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic, now held under the auspices of the UN War Crimes Tribunal--like Vice President Dick Cheney--understood the power of TV in persuading countries to go to war under false pretenses, but possibly neglected to reason such crimes to their logical conclusion and consequence. With any luck, we, too, will live to see our heads of state held accountable for their conduct.
Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic, now held under the auspices of the UN War Crimes Tribunal--like Vice President Dick Cheney--understood the power of TV in persuading countries to go to war under false pretenses, but possibly neglected to reason such crimes to their logical conclusion and consequence. With any luck, we, too, will live to see our heads of state held accountable for their conduct.
