I'm still trying to digest this news, so I ask you to stay with me for a minute while I try to sort it out myself.
The media reported yesterday that the administration has named nine senior Iraqi officials who it says would face a war crimes tribunal on charges of war crimes or crimes against humanity.
But we remember that this administration doesn't recognize the International Court, and the world doesn't recognize the administation's authority for such trials. Details.
That's not all. The White House originally planned to send the list to Baghdad with a delegation from the Arab League, but that trip was called off. If the people on the list left Iraq, turning the country over to the U.S., the idea was that the Iraqi people could escape our attack and their criminal leaders could escape prosecution.
The naiveite of such a plan is matched only by the cynicism of its authors. In exchange for U.S. control of the Middle East the administration was willing to overlook the prosecution of those it has repeatedly branded as criminals of the highest order. Looking at it in another way, the administration is saying that the senior Iraqi officials will be declared war criminals only if we have to declare war on Iraq. Huh?