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| Fifth Column |
| War crimes charges filed in Switzerland against Bush, Blair |
| 2003-05-02 |
| Looks like everybody wants a piece of the action. I thought the Belgians were running the World Legal System? A private group called "Solidarity with Victims of the War Against Iraq" has filed war crimes charges in Switzerland against US President George W. Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair, the public prosecutor's office said Thursday.In a submission, the Geneva-based group said it represented Iraqi nationals whose family members had been victims of acts of war during the invasion carried out by US and British troops. But the prosecutor's department said Bush and Blair would be immune from prosecution while in office, even if they entered Swiss territory. Phhhhew! Rest easy, boys. In Belgium Wednesday, an attorney said charges would be filed against General Tommy Franks, commanding coalition forces in Iraq. He said the charges would be laid on behalf of 19 Iraqis who, he said, had been victims of war crimes during the action, launched on March 20 to topple Saddam Hussein from power. In March, seven Iraqi families filed charges in Belgium against Bush's father, former US president George Bush, for alleged offences during the 1991 Gulf war. You know they're setting up for pretty well for democracy if they're already filing nusiance lawsuits. The charges were also directed at Secretary of State Colin Powell, then chairman of the US joint chiefs of staff, Vice-President Dick Cheney, defense secretary in the administration of Bush senior, and general Norman Schwarzkopf, who commanded the US-led operation "Desert Storm" in 1991. Sue everybody! Somebody will cave and cough up! Well... won't they? The Swiss public prosecutor's office said it would require further clarification from the "Solidarity with Victims of the War Against Iraq" which had filed charges against Bush and Blair. The group includes Swiss left wing parliamentary deputy Christian Grobet. I believe the public prosecutor wishes this would just go away.In the next war, let's line up their lawyers vs. our lawyers. Then nobody will care who dies. |
| Posted by:tu3031 |
| #18 Pardon me, I'm not a lawyer, but how can PRIVATE citizens/groups file war crimes charges? That makes no sense. Doesn't a governmental entity of some kind have to file a charge? A private group could file a lawsuit, but charge?? It's all ridiculous anyway, but it shows how the world is now. It also shows an amazing lack of brains. The law depends, ultimately on ENFORCEMENT, i.e., use of force. Without force to back it up, "law" isn't worth the paper it's written on. "I don't agree with your stinkin' law or your charges or whatever. What are you going to do about it? Wallpaper my house with writs? |
| Posted by: R. McLeod 2003-05-03 04:53:23 |
| #17 I've heard that too, Raptor. Just like Detroit. |
| Posted by: tu3031 2003-05-02 15:17:32 |
| #16 If I remember right every head of household in Switzerland is required to have an assault rifle in the house. |
| Posted by: raptor 2003-05-02 15:03:27 |
| #15 Funny how the Swiss have no problem keeping Saddam's billions nice and safe in their banks. |
| Posted by: Thane of Cawdor 2003-05-02 14:15:43 |
| #14 OldSpook--Thanks for the Word of the Day! Now I can around spouting off about the "barrage of barratry" we put up with in this country. :-) |
| Posted by: Dar 2003-05-02 13:51:17 |
| #13 You guys have missed the obvious ploy: we'll just threaten to send a couple of divisions of American lawyers to Switzerland. The Swiss will fold their cards faster than Jacques Chiraq can make an a$$ of himself. Well... maybe not. |
| Posted by: Tom 2003-05-02 13:46:40 |
| #12 This is the one part of American Society I wish we had gotten rid of instead of exporting: vexatious litigation and barratry. bar·ra·try n. (pl. bar·ra·tries) 1. The offense of persistently instigating lawsuits, typically groundless ones. The concept of the vexatious litigant is well known in law. It refers to a person who habitually and/or persistently abuses the rights of filing lawsuits or the right to take proceedings to court or the court processes therein assoicated, such as, but not limited to, legal service, subpeona, deposition, discovery and other pre-trail and court procedures. |
| Posted by: OldSpook 2003-05-02 13:40:00 |
| #11 The Swiss will just drop into Eben Emel again with gliders and they will win. And with victory comes the port of Antwerp, a prize beyond belief for a land-locked country........... |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2003-05-02 13:21:55 |
| #10 Would crack my ass up if the General showed up for his trial, with a division of locked and loaded Marines in tow. |
| Posted by: Bill OH 2003-05-02 13:11:54 |
| #9 Bush and Blair are such fools. Don't they know that the only people that can kill and maime the Iraqis are Saddam and his bitches. |
| Posted by: rg117 2003-05-02 10:20:42 |
| #8 They will just throw it out. But you see everyone can file a lawsuit against anyone. I suppose the (yet to be founded) "Solidarity with the Victims of Saddam and his Collaborators" may have a more interesting lawsuit to file. |
| Posted by: True German Ally 2003-05-02 10:06:28 |
| #7 F'ing hypocrites! Did they ever file charges against Saddam Hussein for his regime's crimes? Their buddy Putin for Chechnya? Yassir Arafat? Fidel? Milosevic and his cronies? Mugabe? |
| Posted by: Dar 2003-05-02 09:05:12 |
| #6 Oh-oh, this looks like it could develop into something serious. Belgium and Switzerland appear to be at loggerheads as to who really is the Global Uberpower. There's sure to be a war. I predict massed ranks of literally tens of Belgians assault troops (probably a mechanised division, charging to battle in a fleet of rented Ukraininan taxis), clashing with perhaps dozens of bicycle-mounted, small knife-wielding Swiss mountain troops in a small field somewhere in eastern France (France having surrendered the moment the first German-speaking Swiss crossed the border)... |
| Posted by: Bulldog 2003-05-02 08:48:41 |
| #5 I really think the Belgians can out manuver the Swiss once they get them out in the open. Fold them up and force them to rally on the high ground. The high mountains. |
| Posted by: Pat 2003-05-02 11:56:37 |
| #4 Yup...on a boat piloted by Kiwis! |
| Posted by: SL 2003-05-02 11:53:48 |
| #3 Don't kid yourself - the Swiss have an army, a good one. They'd take the Belgians in a walkover, no prob. |
| Posted by: mojo 2003-05-02 10:41:25 |
| #2 One cadre of hackers into the swiss banks and poof! |
| Posted by: Anonymous 2003-05-02 10:38:22 |
| #1 One cadre of hackers into the swiss banks and poof! |
| Posted by: Anonymous 5/2/2003 10:38:22 AM |