Traveling around the world may not be such a good idea for ex U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. Especially not in what he deridingly called ‘old Europe’. Twelve ex-detainees filed a suit against Rumsfeld in Karlsruhe. The alleged offense: war crimes. The ex-detainees and their lawyers will try to prove that Rumsfeld approved what amounts to torture in the prisons of Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay. Also ex-brigadier general Janis Karpinski (now a mere colonel after being demoted) is willing to testify. She headed the American military police in Iraq when the torture took place.
There are doubts whether Germany will dare to go ahead with the case. The judiciary will not be allowed to decide independently. The separation of powers will go down the drain. Frau Merkel wants to improve relations with Washington. Bringing a former Secretary of Defense to justice is not going to help.
But Rummy will still have to watch out where he puts his blood-stained boots, never to be sure whether when or where he might be arrested as a lowly criminal. A Chinese saying comes to mind: A rat is crossing the street and everybody is yelling “Beat it!”.
Transformed from a Defense Secretary into a rat, it only took a day or two…
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