What Bush and Blair has done is worse than what Saddam has done

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[Daniel]

Mahathir condemns Bush, Blair as war criminals 

Former Malaysian premier Mahathir Mohamad condemned British premier Tony Blair and US President George W. Bush as "child killers" and "war criminals" as he launched an anti-war conference.

Mahathir, who has been nominated by Bosnian civil society groups for the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize for helping the country after its bloody civil war, said the pair should be put on trial for their military action in Iraq.

"History should remember Blair and Bush as the killer of children or the lying prime minister and president. What Bush and Blair had done is worse than what Saddam had done," he said, referring to hanged Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.

Mahathir also turned his scorn on Australian Prime Minister John Howard, deriding him as the "pocket Bush of the bushlands of Australia."

The 81-year-old firebrand was a strident critic of the West during his two decades in power, and has continued to hit out since stepping down in 2003, seizing on the issue of conflict in the Middle East during his retirement.

Last week he unveiled plans for an unofficial war crimes tribunal to focus on victims of abuse in Iraq, Lebanon and the Palestinian territories, saying that the existing international court at the Hague was biased.

This week's war crimes conference will be attended by some 17 Palestinians, Iraqis and Lebanese, who allege they are the victims of abuse and torture.

Mahathir has said he will also form a new war crimes commission, to be located in Kuala Lumpur, which will investigate their cases and then refer them to the tribunal if warranted.

"We should not hang Blair if the tribunal finds him guilty, but he should always carry the label 'war criminal', 'killer of children', 'liar'." Mahathir said in his speech.

The tribunal will carry no legal authority and is not backed by any government, but Mahathir has said it will ensure that offenders' wrongdoings are recorded in the history books.

[jimtzu]

has anyone had the chance to see the movie on HBO "the ghost of abu ghraib"?   well worth the time.

HBO Films is currently presenting one of the nominated documentaries for a Grand Jury Prize at this years Sundance Festival: Ghosts of Abu Ghraib. This is a film that needs to be seen by every American. It is a stark lesson in what happens when we are led by individuals who have no respect for law and human rights.

Rory Kennedy's film is a masterpiece that demonstrated how and why America was shamed. It begins and ends with the lessons from the Milgram Experiment conducted in 1961. The actions of the guards at Abu Ghraib replicate the Stanford Prison Experiment of 1971. What is crucial is the fact that, as in the experiments, it has to be assumed that the soldiers were acting under higher authority. Part of the shame of what happened is that this higher authority escaped punishment for their crimes. This is, of course, the way of the world. The peons get the shaft while the higher authorities get medals and promotions.

A critical piece of evidence present might be missed: the techniques used at Abu Ghraib came from the Brazilian Military. These low-ranking soldiers would not have known of these measures. They had to be taught.

Again. all Americans need to see this excellent film to see what happens when authority is abused and law is ignored.