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Bush Cancels Switzerland Trip Due To Threat Of Arrest

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Bush Cancels Switzerland Trip Due To Threat Of Arrest

Unread postby mattduke » Sun 06 Feb 2011, 21:44:35

Former U.S. President George W. Bush has cancelled a visit to Switzerland, where he was to address a Jewish charity gala, due to the risk of legal action against him for alleged torture, rights groups said on Saturday.

Bush was to be the keynote speaker at Keren Hayesod's annual dinner on Feb. 12 in Geneva. But pressure has been building on the Swiss government to arrest him and open a criminal investigation if he enters the Alpine country.

Criminal complaints against Bush alleging torture have been lodged in Geneva, court officials say

Well there is always his place in Paraguay, if he ever needs it.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/02/0 ... 19175.html
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Re: Bush Cancels Switzerland Trip Due To Threat Of Arrest

Unread postby SeaGypsy » Sun 06 Feb 2011, 21:50:47

Bravo! More of this please!
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Re: Bush Cancels Switzerland Trip Due To Threat Of Arrest

Unread postby mos6507 » Sun 06 Feb 2011, 22:27:35

Nice to see a little Bush hate to clean the palette with the usual steady dose of Obama hate.
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Re: Bush Cancels Switzerland Trip Due To Threat Of Arrest

Unread postby SeaGypsy » Sun 06 Feb 2011, 22:42:51

How is the hypocrisy of the State department trying to prosecute a journalist for collecting information, whilst permitting a known and confessed war criminal to walk freely?
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Re: Bush Cancels Switzerland Trip Due To Threat Of Arrest

Unread postby mos6507 » Sun 06 Feb 2011, 22:58:50

SeaGypsy wrote:How is the hypocrisy of the State department trying to prosecute a journalist for collecting information, whilst permitting a known and confessed war criminal to walk freely?


Assange isn't the knight in shining armor that some doomers think he is.
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Re: Bush Cancels Switzerland Trip Due To Threat Of Arrest

Unread postby Sixstrings » Sun 06 Feb 2011, 23:46:35

Ok I'm no Bush fan.. BUT..

I wouldn't ever want to see a President arrested after leaving office. Once they're gone, leave them alone.. if their policies are criminal while in office, then it's up to Congress to impeach and remove -- not Switzerland.
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Re: Bush Cancels Switzerland Trip Due To Threat Of Arrest

Unread postby FairMaiden » Mon 07 Feb 2011, 18:27:44

I disagree Sixstrings - Switzerland doesn't have to open their arms to someone that they feel has broken international law. It's their choice who they let in their country and what standards are imposed in THEIR country. They aren't putting out an international warrant for his arrest - they are just saying if he enters their country the people their want him detained and investigated. If he doesn't like it then he doesn't have to go there. He's not welcome.
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Re: Bush Cancels Switzerland Trip Due To Threat Of Arrest

Unread postby Plantagenet » Mon 07 Feb 2011, 18:39:31

Some leftist group of Bush-haters threatened to attack Bush and violently disrupt his speech. Some other leftist group of Bush-haters wanted to harass Bush, so they filed a meaningless complaint to stop the speech.

This is just another example of the trend towards the erosion of the right of free speech through the use of harassment, threats and violence against speakers who aren't "politically correct".
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Re: Bush Cancels Switzerland Trip Due To Threat Of Arrest

Unread postby Sixstrings » Mon 07 Feb 2011, 18:52:33

FairMaiden wrote:I disagree Sixstrings - Switzerland doesn't have to open their arms to someone that they feel has broken international law. It's their choice who they let in their country and what standards are imposed in THEIR country. They aren't putting out an international warrant for his arrest - they are just saying if he enters their country the people their want him detained and investigated. If he doesn't like it then he doesn't have to go there. He's not welcome.


Well that's true. Actually on second thought, it's good they've done this so at least there is some kind of accountability in the historical record.

But in general.. no president can ever allow an ex president to actually get arrested by another country for previous presidential policies. Doesn't matter what treaties we've signed, that's just something that can't be allowed to happen. It would be a serious affront to the dignity of the office.

Nixon came the closest to facing the prospect of trial after leaving office. Ford did the right thing by pardoning him, if Nixon had been tried in court and sent off to jail it would have tarnished the office as a whole. I think our presidents should have a certain degree of immunity, because once you go down that road of putting them on trial and in jail then it just gets too easy to do it again and then you wind up with weak executives who are afraid of their own shadow for fear of future prosecution.

I'm happy with our Constitution. It's up to the House to impeach, and then the Senate to convict. It's been tried twice, both times for political reasons, and both times it failed in the Senate. The Constitution has it just right, setting the bar for removal very high.
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Re: Bush Cancels Switzerland Trip Due To Threat Of Arrest

Unread postby Vogelzang » Mon 07 Feb 2011, 19:19:49

The Democrats did 911

The Dims hired some of their Al Qaeda allies and had them fly the planes into the buildings in order to get Bush to start the wars in Afganistan and Iraq. Misinformation was constantly given to Bush and Cheney by the Democrats to start and escalate the wars. This is part of the plan of the Democrats to bankrupt the US in order to convert it into a socialist country with the Democrats controlling Washington permanently and a life-long Democrat as dictator in the whitehouse.

The second step in the Democrats' genocidal plan is to push the global warming lie. Global warming alarmism was created by the Club of Rome (Al Gore is a member) and some members of the UN who are planning genocide of most of the human race as part of their paranoid plans to save the planet. In reality, they want to destroy most of human life so they can have the remaining reserves of the earth for themselves and at much lower prices.

Update: Environmental Groups Exposed: ‘Every dollar spent has been aimed at helping Democrats’
http://epw.senate.gov/public/index.cfm? ... 704ecc91a6

An Inconvenient Truth exaggerated sea level rise
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.j ... ore104.xml

------------------

CO2: The Greatest Scientific Scandal Of Our Time by Zbigniew Jaworowski
http://www.21stcenturysciencetech.com/A ... candal.pdf

Read the part on page 16 that says:

We may get to the point where the only way of saving the world will be for industrial civilization to collapse. Strong elaborated on the idea of sustainable development, which, he said, can be implemented by deliberate quest of poverty . . . reduced resource consumption . . . and set levels of mortality control.
Timothy Wirth, U.S. Undersecretary of State for Global Issues, seconded Strong’s statement: “We have got to ride the global warming issue. Even if the theory of global warming is wrong, we will be doing the right thing in terms of economic policy and environmental policy.”

President-elect Barack Obama proposes economic suicide for US
By Christopher Booker
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main ... do3010.xml
http://climaterealists.com/index.php?id=2172

Money being made from warming scare
Larry Thornberry
http://washingtontimes.com/news/2008/de ... ing-scare/

The Democratic Party has opposed ANWR exploration, coal-to-liquids techonology, oil shale exploration, outer continental shelf (OCS) exploration and increasing refinery capacity
http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives2/ ... 020696.php





Democrat Quotes on Iraq Weapons of Mass Destruction

"One way or the other, we are determined to deny Iraq the capacity to develop weapons of mass destruction and the missiles to deliver them. That is our bottom line."
--President Bill Clinton, Feb. 4, 1998

"If Saddam rejects peace and we have to use force, our purpose is clear. We want to seriously diminish the threat posed by Iraq's weapons of mass destruction program."
--President Bill Clinton, Feb. 17, 1998

"Iraq is a long way from [here], but what happens there matters a great deal here. For the risks that the leaders of a rogue state will use nuclear, chemical or biological weapons against us or our allies is the greatest security threat we face."
--Madeline Albright, Feb 18, 1998

"He will use those weapons of mass destruction again, as he has ten times since 1983."
--Sandy Berger, Clinton National Security Adviser, Feb, 18, 1998

"We begin with the common belief that Saddam Hussein is a tyrant and a threat to the peace and stability of the region. He has ignored the mandate of the United Nations and is building weapons of mass destruction and th! e means of delivering them."
-- Sen. Carl Levin (D, MI), Sept. 19, 2002

"We know that he has stored secret supplies of biological and chemical weapons throughout his country.
Poison gas and biological weapons were found in Iraq. Sadam used poison gas on the Kurds and against Iran."
-- Al Gore, Sept. 23, 2002



"Iraq's search for weapons of mass destruction has proven impossible to deter and we should assume that it will continue for as long as Saddam is in power."
-- Al Gore, Sept. 23, 2002

"We have known for many years that Saddam Hussein is seeking and developing weapons of mass destruction."
-- Sen. Ted Kennedy (D, MA), Sept. 27, 2002

"The last UN weapons inspectors left Iraq in October of 1998. We are confident that Saddam Hussein retains some stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons, and that he has since embarked on a crash course to build up his chemical and biological warfare capabilities. Intelligence reports indicate that he is seeking nuclear weapons..."
-- Sen. Robert Byrd (D, WV), Oct. 3, 2002

"I will be voting to give the President of the United States the authority to use force -- if necessary -- to disarm Saddam Hussein because I believe that a deadly arsenal of weapons of mass destruction in his hands is a real and grave threat to our security."
-- Sen. John F. Kerry (D, MA), Oct. 9, 2002

"There is unmistakable evidence that Saddam Hussein is working aggressively to develop nuclear weapons and will likely have nuclear weapons within the next five years ... We also should remember we have always underestimated the progress Saddam has made in development of weapons of mass destruction."
-- Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D, WV), Oct 10, 2002

"He has systematically violated, over the course of the past 11 years, every significant UN resolution that has demanded that he disarm and destroy his chemical and biological weapons, and any nuclear capacity. This he has refused to do"
-- Rep. Henry Waxman (D, CA), Oct. 10, 2002
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Re: Bush Cancels Switzerland Trip Due To Threat Of Arrest

Unread postby AdTheNad » Mon 07 Feb 2011, 20:21:40

Sixstrings wrote:Ok I'm no Bush fan.. BUT..

I wouldn't ever want to see a President arrested after leaving office. Once they're gone, leave them alone.. if their policies are criminal while in office, then it's up to Congress to impeach and remove -- not Switzerland.


Seriously? Does anyone have the right to full imunity no matter what they do just because they are the President?

I mean, as much as I hate to godwin a thread, imagine if a President really did take things that far, shouldn't people in power be held accountable for war crimes?

It's all well and good saying Congress should impeach him if neccessary, but what if the war crimes are not found out about until later on, I'm not sure that secrecy should absolve someone from punishment. I just can't even wrap my head around this mind set.

Plantagenet wrote:This is just another example of the trend towards the erosion of the right of free speech through the use of harassment, threats and violence against speakers who aren't "politically correct".


Are war crimes covered by the right to free speech now?
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Re: Bush Cancels Switzerland Trip Due To Threat Of Arrest

Unread postby Vogelzang » Mon 07 Feb 2011, 20:26:56

The Democrats tricked Bush into going to war with Iraq. People were tortured by order of the Democrats.
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Re: Bush Cancels Switzerland Trip Due To Threat Of Arrest

Unread postby SeaGypsy » Mon 07 Feb 2011, 21:47:02

mos6507 wrote:
SeaGypsy wrote:How is the hypocrisy of the State department trying to prosecute a journalist for collecting information, whilst permitting a known and confessed war criminal to walk freely?


Assange isn't the knight in shining armor that some doomers think he is.


He aint a war criminal, Bush and Cheney are.

I personally don't like the guy, having had a bit to do with him and wiki a while back. He is an arrogant piece of work. However, as part of your link says, this is irrelevant to the subject at hand. Crucifying his personality defects in no way undermines his very significant achievements.
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Re: Bush Cancels Switzerland Trip Due To Threat Of Arrest

Unread postby Plantagenet » Mon 07 Feb 2011, 22:26:30

AdTheNad wrote:Are war crimes covered by the right to free speech now?

Of course not. Giving a speech is covered by the right to free speech.

Get it now? :roll:
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Re: Bush Cancels Switzerland Trip Due To Threat Of Arrest

Unread postby Shar_Lamagne » Tue 08 Feb 2011, 03:15:07

The United States violated the Geneva Conventions.
They launched a War of Aggression.

They have violated the Sovereign border of another country to commit acts of war.

They engaged in abductions and extrajudicial transfer of persons from one nation to another for the purpose of torture by proxy.

They engaged in torture themselves. They held prisoners without charge. They held POW's without respecting the rights of POW's according to the Geneva Conventions.

That makes many in the United States guilty of War Crimes according to the Geneva Conventions. This is a fact. Not open to interpretation.

The United States is a signatory to the Geneva Conventions and it was ratified by Congress. That makes it International Law to which the United States is subject to.

Bush is a war criminal just like Slobodan Milosovic, or the Nazis tried at Nuremberg.
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Re: Bush Cancels Switzerland Trip Due To Threat Of Arrest

Unread postby Wallace Hartley » Tue 08 Feb 2011, 03:53:15

Out here in sunny Southern Africa we have Mad Bob Mugabe just to the North of us, and the main reason he will not step down and so cease and desist from any further wrecking of his country is because he would almost certainly have to face some sort of International Criminal Court and answer to the massacre of tens of thousands of his Matabele countrymen, as well as the very strange deaths of several key figures who would have been serious contenders for the position he now calls his for life, including the very interesting Josiah Tongagara.

If he can be boycotted, blasted and slated wherever he goes in the world, why not Bush?

Yes, many of us in South Africa easily place Bush and Mugabe in the same category of non-human being.

More power to the Swiss...
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Re: Bush Cancels Switzerland Trip Due To Threat Of Arrest

Unread postby americandream » Tue 08 Feb 2011, 04:45:27

Wallace Hartley wrote:Out here in sunny Southern Africa we have Mad Bob Mugabe just to the North of us, and the main reason he will not step down and so cease and desist from any further wrecking of his country is because he would almost certainly have to face some sort of International Criminal Court and answer to the massacre of tens of thousands of his Matabele countrymen, as well as the very strange deaths of several key figures who would have been serious contenders for the position he now calls his for life, including the very interesting Josiah Tongagara.

If he can be boycotted, blasted and slated wherever he goes in the world, why not Bush?

Yes, many of us in South Africa easily place Bush and Mugabe in the same category of non-human being.

More power to the Swiss...


Part of the problem with Zim lies with the Poms who promised to fund the compensation of white farmers (many of whom were British immigrants) and then reneged. In a sense, Africa will have to go through the experience Ireland underwent with its own Protestant settlers, many of whom were disposessed of their lands to make way for Catholics who had been earlier dispossessed by said Protestants.
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Re: Bush Cancels Switzerland Trip Due To Threat Of Arrest

Unread postby SeaGypsy » Tue 08 Feb 2011, 06:32:46

One of the nice things about the fall of the USA as THE Superpower is that these mongrels might be brought to justice. In the same way the US goes a rendering, some other country might be in a position to render GWB. BTW Obama is a war criminal too.
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Re: Bush Cancels Switzerland Trip Due To Threat Of Arrest

Unread postby AdTheNad » Tue 08 Feb 2011, 06:51:39

Plantagenet wrote:Of course not. Giving a speech is covered by the right to free speech.

I think the right to free speech covers those protesting against a war criminal as well.

He should be able to give as many speeches as he wants once he is behind bars where he belongs. Hopefully in a cell next to Tony Blair. Or does the constitution allow you to restrict freedom of speech for criminals (along with, I believe, the resrictions against voting and owning guns)?
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Re: Bush Cancels Switzerland Trip Due To Threat Of Arrest

Unread postby SeaGypsy » Tue 08 Feb 2011, 07:38:03

A lot of Americans really do believe that God put them in charge of the known Universe and that their leaders are chosen by God to rule everything everywhere. There is an oft quoted (and oft contradicted)line in the Roman Bible about it (of course).
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