Twenty years after the invasion of Iraq, an American ex-president is being charged with crimes and a world leader has been indicted for war crimes. These things are not related.
George W Bush, like his father before him, will never face legal consequences for the hundreds of thousands of people killed or who saw their lives ruined by his militarism, his oversight of torture and indefinite detention, his violence and destruction, and the lies he told to justify it all. At most, he is a social pariah in some circles, but since the rise of Trump’s uncouth brand of white nationalism, even liberals have tried to rehabilitate W’s image. It serves the interests of American global hegemony to do so, anyway.
Obviously, Putin and Trump should be held accountable. It would be great if the ICC and the District Attorney of New York, respectively, succeeded in bringing these despotic thugs to justice. But Putin, at most, will likely lose his war against Ukraine, though he’ll probably retain some territory. Unless something comes up in the New York case, Trump will likely get away with yet another round of fraud and illegality. Meanwhile our biggest war criminals will carry on, perhaps despised, but never punished. Ask Kissinger.
And if you’re wondering why I put George in a bathtub, I was inspired by his paintings.
Discussion ¬