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  • Monday, March 07, 2005

     

    Rumsfeld and the Law

    Donald Rumsfeld, current Secretary of Defense, has quite a few legal problems these days. From the Free Internet Press:
    The American Civil Liberties Union and Human Rights First filed suit in federal district court in Rumsfeld's home state of Illinois on behalf of eight former detainees who said they were severely tortured. All eight were subsequently released without being charged.
    Rumsfeld says he offered his resignation to Pres. Bush at least twice during the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal but Bush refused to accept it. This is one of the strange things about this administration: No one is ever fired or resigns because of wrongdoings. No matter the scandal, no matter the culpability of the person, they get to continue on in their position. Even stranger to me is the general excuse given: Mistakes may have been made, maybe serious ones, but the person ultimately responsible is a "good person" therefore doesn't "deserve" to lose their job over it. From FOXNews.com:

    The president rejected calls from some Democratic members of Congress that he should fire Rumsfeld.

    "Secretary Rumsfeld is a really good secretary of defense. Secretary Rumsfeld has served our nation well," Bush said. "Secretary Rumsfeld has been the secretary during two wars and he is an important part of my Cabinet and he'll stay in my Cabinet."

    Over in Germany, Rumsfeld is being charged with war crimes. This is another reason why the Bush administration is so very against the International Criminal Court (ICC). The current US administration has an aversion to being judged by the standards of the rest of the world.

    It reminds me of an old David Frye comedy routine about Richard Nixon and Watergate. Fry as Nixon says "Let me explain the difference: People who are to blame lose their jobs; people who are responsible, keep them." Rumsfeld takes responsibilty, but none of the blame. If only all jobs were so lenient about failures.

    This is PBU10, a post/project in solidarity with the Progressive Blogger Union.



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