July 4th, 2009 -Iraq War Ends

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Iraq War Ends

U.S. Army helicopters begin moving troops and equipment from Saddam Hussein's former Baghdad palace. (COURTESY ARMY.MIL)
Ex-Secretary Apologizes for W.M.D. Scare
300,000 Troops Never Faced Risk of Instant Obliteration
By Frank Larimore
Ex-Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice reassured soldiers that the Bush Administration had known well before the invasion that Saddam Hussein lacked weapons of mass destruction.
Comments (36)
Court Indicts Bush on High Treason Charge
By Bart Garzon
George W. Bush, the 43rd President of the United States, was indicted Monday on charges of high treason.
Comments (135)
Troops to Return Immediately
By Jude Shinbin
Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom were brought to an unceremonious close today.
Comments (170)
Streets Come Alive as Relief and Exuberance Greet End of Conflicts
By Schuyler Frank
Thousands take to the streets to celebrate the announced end to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.Comments (21)
After the War
Last to Die in Battle Remembered, American and Iraqi
Torture, Rendition "Not Such Good Ideas After All"
War Brides (and Husbands) Find Their Place in a New Iraq
A New New Deal for the 21st Century
Nation Sets its Sights on Building a Sane Economy
By T. Veblan
President Barack Obama has called for swift passage of his administration’s Safeguards for a New Economy (S.A.N.E.) bill. The omnibus economic package includes a federal maximum wage, mandatory "True Cost Accounting," a phased withdrawal from complex financial instruments, and other measures intended to improve life for ordinary Americans.
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The Economy
Maximum Wage Law Passes Congress
By J.K. Malone
Congress limits top salaries to fifteen times the minimum wage.
Comments (57)
Nationalized Oil To Fund Climate Change Efforts
By Marion K. Hubert
Congress has voted to place ExxonMobil, ChevronTexaco, and other major oil companies under public stewardship.
Comments (20)
Labor Dept. Launches Job Creation Program
By Robert Owen
The Department of Labor is scrambling to propose new standards that will affect every American worker.
Comments (23)
Education
Education Department Plans National Tax Base for Schools
By M.M. Bethune
Twenty-three states following the lead of a landmark decision in Ohio.
Comments
Congress Returns Civics to High School Curriculum
By Joseph Bristello
Congressional spokespeople announced a funding appropriation to return the subject of civics to high school curricula nationwide.
Comments (16)
All Public Universities To Be Free
By Mary K. Rawlings
A bill to eliminate tuition at public universities is making its way through Congress and is expected to pass within days.
Comments (18)
Infrastructure
Crumbling Infrastructure Brings Opportunities
By Charles Hochmanks
Advocates seek to focus investment on proven, sustainable technologies to help move the country away from its dependency on fossil fuels.
Comments
High-Speed Internet Hits Fast Track to Appalachia
By B. Vannevar
Massive public support pushes the Internet Freedom Preservation Act through both houses of Congress.
Comments (13)
New York Bike Path System Expanded Dramatically
By Mede Sivrac
Ninth Avenue and beyond.
Comments (16)
Society & Politics »
National Health Insurance Act Passes
The United States National Health Insurance Act is expected to be signed into law shortly.
Comments (23)
Popular Pressure Ushers Recent Progressive Tilt
Grassroots advocacy the source of sweeping legislation, study says.
Comments (12)
USA Patriot Act Repealed
The controversial USA PATRIOT Act was repealed by Congress by a vote of 99-1 in the Senate and 520 to 18 in the House.
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Opinion »
Friedman: The End of the Experts? Comments (114)
Editorial: Special Edition Comments (13)
Editorial: A Baboon Study Remembered Comments (10)
Editorial: Lobbyists are Citizens Too Comments (12) Video: NY Times Special Edition hits the streets
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Big Boxes Appeal Eviction from Low-Income Neighborhoods
Wal-Mart, Costco, Sam's Club, K-Mart, and Target are challenging the Economic Independence Act which requires "big box" stores to phase out outlets in or near low-income neighborhoods
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More Business
Harvard Will Shut Business School Doors
Senate Gets Tough On "Limited Liability" to Rein in, Humanize Corporations
Public Relations Industry Forecasts a Series of Massive Layoffs



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http://www.nytimes-se.com/2009/07/04/court-indicts-bush-on-high-treason-charge/

Court Indicts Bush on High Treason Charge
By Bart Garzon Published: July 4th, 2009

WASHINGTON (AP) — George W. Bush, the 43rd President of the United States, was indicted Monday on charges of high treason. The charges, filed by Attorney General Russ Feingold late in the evening, allege that Mr. Bush, knowing full well that Iraq possessed no weapons of mass destruction, falsified information in order to pursue the disastrous Iraq War. (See “U.S. Knew No W.M.D.s in Iraq,” on Page A1, and the petition at www.democrats.com/pardon.)

The former President appeared perturbed by his own charges against him. (GAVIN BELLOWS/BOSTON GLOBE)

Source: New York Times/CBS News poll
Federal District Judge Michael Ratner denied Mr. Bush’s request to represent himself. Ratner is the former president of the Center for Constitutional Rights.
High treason is usually defined as participation in a war against one’s own country; attempting to overthrow its government; spying on its military, its diplomats, or its secret services for a hostile and foreign power; or attempting to kill its head of state.
“In this case, high treason has been interpreted to include pursuing an illegal and devastating war that has cost hundreds of billions of dollars and the lives of over 4,000 Americans and perhaps a million Iraqis, for essentially insane ends,” said Vincent Bugliosi, a former federal prosecutor whom Feingold named lead special prosecutor in the case. “In effect, the Iraq War amounted to a war against America,” added Bugliosi, who is also the author of the book, The Prosecution of George Bush for Murder.
Although the treason indictment came as no surprise to most observers, what was completely unexpected was the party who brought it.
“The case is highly unusual in a number of ways,” said Bugliosi, “not the least of which is that the defendant is actually accusing himself.”
In a press conference held close to midnight yesterday at his Crawford, Texas ranch, former President Bush cited his renewed Christian faith as the catalyst for this unprecedented action. “Last month, I had a conversation with Jesus Christ. A new conversation. And I’ve been very blessed to have been born again, again. This time, for real,” Mr. Bush read in a prepared statement to half a dozen stunned reporters.
“It’s taken a lot of soul searching, or more like deep-soul diving, I think is the term. But now I see that it was wrong to lead our nation to war under false pretenses. Millions have suffered for my sins, and I see now that it is only fitting that I should suffer as well.”
Mr. Bush’s self-accusation seems largely to have been plagiarized from years of accusations made against him in the press. It refers to his “political propaganda campaign to sell the war to the American people,” and describes how he and his team attempted to make the “W.M.D. threat and the Iraqi connection to terrorism appear certain, whereas in fact we knew there wasn’t one at all.”
“The death and economic collapse that resulted has been completely devastating to our nation and, most of all, to me,” read Mr. Bush’s indictment. “I want to make amends, and it is for this reason that I am requesting that I be indicted for high treason. I thank the court for allowing me to right my grave wrongs. Bring it on!”
Some analysts suggest that Mr. Bush’s self-indictment is part of a strategy to avoid the death penalty. Although treason carries a potential death sentence, Mr. Bush and his team of attorneys are seeking a triple life sentence without possibility of parole.
“We don’t want to be too cynical about Mr. Bush’s motives,” said a spokesperson for AfterDowningStreet.org, one of the main groups that had been pursuing Mr. Bush’s indictment. “But even if it doesn’t get moved to the I.C.C., requesting his own conviction is so unusual it could move some jurors, or even help with an insanity plea.”
A friend of Mr. Bush, speaking on condition of anonymity, revealed that Mr. Bush would attempt to move the case to the International Criminal Court, which does not have a death penalty, and was quietly pressing Secretary of State Naomi Klein to bring the U.S. under the court’s jurisdiction. In 2002, then-Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld rejected the I.C.C.’s jurisdiction, saying it was “unaccountable to the American people.”
Mr. Bush maintained his characteristically jovial manner throughout the proceedings. “I could be executed, but what good would that do anybody? Especially me. I think the nation would rather I spend a good long while considering what happened — not only the tragic end of hundreds of thousands of lives, but the end of American capitalism, that I liked, I sincerely liked,” Mr. Bush said. (See also “An Exclusive Interview With George W. Bush,” on Page A9.)
The treason charge does not address compensation for the hundreds of thousands of Iraqis killed in the war. It is expected that surviving family members of fallen American soldiers will file thousands of civil lawsuits alleging wrongful death.

http://www.nytimes-se.com/2009/07/04/senate-gets-tough-on-%e2%80%9climited-liability%e2%80%9d-to-rein-in-humanize-corporations/
Senate Gets Tough On “Limited Liability” to Rein in, Humanize Corporations
By Carlton Donally Published: July 4th, 2009
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Senator John McCain, Republican of Arizona, has launched a bold new “tough on crime” initiative that would imprison or fine shareholders for corporate crimes committed in their name. Punishment would depend on the severity of the crime and the number of shares owned.

John McCain reclaims “maverick” status with strict new sentencing to put corporate criminals behind bars.

An old prison being remodeled for white-collar criminals.
Mr. McCain outlined his unique two-tiered punishment program, which would punish corporations for legal infractions according to their severity. Mr. McCain explained that there would be two “suites” of punishment, for levels of crime roughly corresponding to misdemeanors and felonies.
In one “suite” — for “misdemeanors” like bilking taxpayers of seven-figure dollar amounts, overcharging consumers, attempting monopolies, and contributing to simple human troubles like asthma and brief bouts of homelessness — punishment would take the form of short- or long-term share confiscation. Dividends of confiscated shares would pay for remedial action, where possible, as well as public-good programs like health care.
“I know a number of people whose companies were players in the Savings and Loan scandal,” Mr. McCain said, “and they’re prepared to face the consequences. Remedies for serious problems are never easy, especially when they hit at the root.”
The second punishment “suite,” for “felonies” — spreading diseases, committing homicide or manslaughter, contributing to national disasters in the U.S. or abroad, large-scale bilking of taxpayers, etc. — would involve direct punishment of the shareholders in question.
Mr. McCain used Union Carbide’s 1984 Bhopal massacre, in which thousands of Indian villagers were killed by lethal gas, as an example of a crime that would be classified as a felony. While retroactive prosecutions based on new laws are usually not permissible, in such extreme cases they would be, as they were in the Nuremberg prosecutions of 1945.
In the Union Carbide example, Mr. McCain noted that each death would cost the company a “negligent homicide” charge, for approximately twenty years of incarceration each. Twenty years multiplied by 2000 equals 40,000 years in prison, with aggravating factors such as a demonstrated lack of remorse or compassion tripling the total.
This penalty would be divided among Union Carbide shareholders, each of whom could expect to spend from a few weeks to several years in prison, depending on the size of investment. A minimum penalty could be set by a judge — so that an investor with even a fraction of a share would be liable for, say, two weeks in jail. This would apply even to those who had invested via mutual funds, without knowing the precise direction of their investments.
Mr. McCain said that while “tough on crime” policy has been shown to be useless with humans, it would work with corporations. “Corporations are just machines, not like teenage kids. They can be forced to act as if they knew right from wrong.”
“Corporate behavior has become a very loud cry for ‘tough love,’” the governor said. “We’ve got to adapt to a changing world, and sometimes that means changing laws.”
“Fines are not punishment, they do not build character,” Mr. McCain said. “What’s a ten-million-dollar fine to a giant corporation? Fines seldom if ever affect the pocketbooks of shareholders or managers, those who make the decisions or power the machine. Hitting pockets and people directly is a different thing.”
Mr. McCain admitted that several major problems remain to be solved. The death penalty, for example, while often merited in corporate crime cases, had no obvious application — “We can’t talk about ‘little deaths’ here,” said Mr. McCain, making an obscure bilingual pun better left unexplained.
Also, the issue of global markets poses some problems, Mr. McCain said. “These penalties will eventually have to be agreed on by a global governing body like the W.T.O., not only here at home in Arizona or the U.S. Otherwise we may create a better market here, but the changes will be irrelevant in the bigger picture. And influencing such a powerful and state-independent body as the W.T.O. is a very involved process.”
The ultimate aim of the program, Mr. McCain said, is to help corporations achieve their long-term goals. “Corporations have spent the last century and a half trying to obtain all the legal rights of people,” Mr. McCain said. “They’re now technically persons, but they’re not really human. We owe it to them — and to our species — to help them finish their quest.”
Mr. McCain went on to explain that corporations still, even today, lack one distinguishing human characteristic: a conscience. “Corporations were invented to keep investors innocent of crimes committed with the help of their money, accidentally or not. But now that corporations have become legally almost human, they have to be taught that their actions have consequences.”
Mr. McCain called corporate efforts to obtain the legal rights of humans “compassionate greed,” and said that it was “not entirely about getting richer.”
“You’d have to be very cynical to think that corporations, when they won protection as ‘persons’ under the ‘Freed Slave’ Amendment, were thinking only of their own wealth,” Mr. McCain said. He was referring to the 14th Amendment, which had been designed to protect the rights of freed slaves, and which was used in 1886 to establish corporations as “natural persons” under the law.
“It’s clear that corporations just admire humans and what we have. We should be good hosts and help them however we can. Right now, that means making them responsible and responsive.”
While most experts scoff at the idea that corporations could actually become human beings, most agree that punishing corporations for the crimes they commit will at the very least have a positive effect on the world. “If each shareholder is personally responsible for corporate crimes, then you’ve got real controls — and without regulation!” said Mr. McCain.
Mr. McCain dismissed concerns that personal liability for corporate crimes might discourage individual investors from taking a risk. “People love to gamble,” he said, “and this will make it all very real.”
For those who do not thrive on such risks, Mr. McCain suggested that the mutual fund industry would easily adopt new decision-making processes, just as it has in the past. “The prime mechanism of regulation will be shareholder judgement. If investment in one company is likely to land you in jail, you’ll invest in another instead. Mutual fund companies will find it an exciting challenge to obtain and keep investor confidence. It will reinvigorate the industry, and in fact the whole concept of investment.”