Obama Accused Of Crimes Against Humanity
The Telegraph reports that a Spanish lawyer has formally accused President Barack Obama of crimes against humanity for ordering the assassination of Osama bin Laden:
Daniel Fiol lodged a written complaint at the International Criminal Court accusing the US president of breaching the Geneva Convention. ...
In his written complaint, the Majorca-based lawyer said bin Laden should have been "pursued, arrested, tried and convicted" on behalf of "the victims of some terrible and appalling atrocities". The killing of bin Laden was even worse as it took place in foreign territory, Pakistan, without the permission of that government, he said.
"I am not being paid by al-Qaeda," Mr Fiol joked.
Ha ha! There's a reason why we've generally avoided litigating every wartime decision. Is this just the latest in a long string of Spanish attorneys going after U.S. presidents? Or does this case have any merit? I am not losing a moment's sleep over the death of Osama bin Laden but the argument can certainly be made that we killed him because the Obama administration's legal protocol for terrorists would have been too risky.
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Aug '10
Re: Obama Accused Of Crimes Against Humanity
Well, his speeches do qualify.
Re: Obama Accused Of Crimes Against Humanity
The lovely thing about this is that Barack Obama, Erich Holder, and the like are being hoist with their own petard. The legal left in the United States, as in Europe, embraces the notion that the rule of law and lawyers can be extended into every sphere and that the ordinary legal niceties that quite properly apply to citizens in time of peace can and must be extended to soldiers in time of war and to irregulars and terrorists as well. Somehow I do not think that we will see on the left in this particular case the sort of chest-thumping denunciations as war criminals that we heard when such accusations were made against George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, and Donald Rumsfeld.
Jun '10
Re: Obama Accused Of Crimes Against Humanity
Well said.
I would add the thought that, in my opinion, bin Laden forfeited any claim to being a member of "humanity" on September 11, 2001. It requires a human to have a crime against humanity.
Dec '10
Re: Obama Accused Of Crimes Against Humanity
This nonsense goes back to the Nuremberg trials. Don’t get me wrong, if ever there was a group that needed killing, it was the NAZI’s, but for some reason they felt the need to put a veneer of rule of law on stringing the (expletives) up.
Mar '11
Re: Obama Accused Of Crimes Against Humanity
What utter nonsense, and what a skewed moral compass.
The language of "crimes against humanity" makes sense in Nuremburg-esque proceedings for the most egregious, heinous, and awful violations of rights imaginable.
Bin Laden was guilty of exactly this kind of heinous act. His death was magnificently just. Heck, maybe it was too honorable--he was allowed to die while he was still the leader of Al Qaeda--that is, while he was still "on the battlefield"--at the hands of better soldiers.
Mar '11
Re: Obama Accused Of Crimes Against Humanity
Ha ha, indeed :-)
I thought there was a US law against assassinating political leaders, but I guess that wouldn't cover Mr Bin Laden? Even Mr Hussein (Saddam) had to go through an Iraqi court before being strung up.
Mr Obama is of course targeting Al Qaeda leaders almost daily, via drones - thereby avoiding sending them to Guantanamo Bay. These would be enemy combatants, I guess, except they aren't exactly fighting when they are killed - usually they are in their underwear.
Anyway, I think Mr Bush was on firmer legal ground when he was being advised by Prof Yoo.
But you can't try a Nobel Laureate for War Crimes, I am sure.
Re: Obama Accused Of Crimes Against Humanity
David Williamson: Ha ha, indeed :-)
But you can't try a Nobel Laureate for War Crimes, I am sure. · Jul 18 at 10:11am
Now there's a thought.
Nov '10
Re: Obama Accused Of Crimes Against Humanity
Thanks for specifying that it's the "legal left" that deserves this criticism. We here on the legal right suffer from the fallout of the legal left's insanity on a constant basis.
Jul '10
Re: Obama Accused Of Crimes Against Humanity
You wouldn't think a guy from Majorca would be so uptight.
Mar '11
Re: Obama Accused Of Crimes Against Humanity
Nothing coming out of Europe surprises me anymore:
One senior officer stunned troops when he ordered them not to shoot a Taliban fighter because gunfire would "wake up and upset the locals".
or
Troops were even told they could be charged with MURDER if they shot anyone without permission from command.
So some Spaniards have decided it would be a hoot to see if they can prosecute the President for taking out bin Laden? I can't even summon a bit of schadenfreude over such nonsense at this point. Such madness pouring out from across the Atlantic feels like the death throes of civilization.
Jun '10
Re: Obama Accused Of Crimes Against Humanity
There goes this year's Spanish vacation.
Feb '11
Re: Obama Accused Of Crimes Against Humanity
Consider the source. Spain has been in decline since at least Philip II, if not before.
Jul '10
Re: Obama Accused Of Crimes Against Humanity
The left risks being seen as hypocritical if Obama doesn't seek legal counsel for a vigorous defense.