Iraqis cheer Rumsfeld departure
By Sameer N. Yacoub, Associated Press
“I think that there will a shift in the U.S. policy in Iraq after his resignation,” said Osama Ahmed, 50, a civil servant.
[…]
Ahmed, the civil servant, said Rumsfeld should also be held responsible for crimes by American forces in Iraq, particularly the abuse of Iraqis at Abu Ghraib prison that became known in 2004.
“Rumsfeld’s resignation is not enough,” Ahmed said. “He should be put under investigation for his responsibility in the crimes committed in Abu Ghraib and the killings and rapes carried out by U.S. soldiers against Iraqi citizens, he said.
Rumsfeld had twice previously offered his resignation to Bush — once during the Abu Ghraib scandal and again shortly after that. Both times the president refused to let him leave.
War Criminals, Beware
by JEREMY BRECHER & BRENDAN SMITH
[from the November 20, 2006 issue]
On November 14 a group of lawyers and other experts will come before the German federal prosecutor and ask him to open a criminal investigation targeting Donald Rumsfeld, Alberto Gonzales and other key Bush Administration figures for war crimes. The recent passage of the Military Commissions Act provides a central argument for the legal action, under the doctrine of universal jurisdiction: It demonstrates the intent of the Bush Administration to immunize itself legally from prosecution in the United States, even for the most serious crimes.