by Larry Everest
As the new year begins,
January looms as a crucial month, possibly shaping events for the year and far
beyond. In this critical moment, there’s an urgent need – and great possibility
– for delivering a powerful and compelling indictment of the Bush
administration for war crimes and crimes against humanity right here in the
U.S. This is the mission of the
International Commission of Inquiry on Crimes Against Humanity, whose final
session will be held January 20-22 in New York City. The situation, and our responsibility to
world humanity, call for nothing less.
Just since our opening
session in October, new reports of shocking crimes – in all areas of our
indictments – have poured forth. In Iraq, it has been revealed that the U.S.
used white phosphorous in Fallujah and is escalating its air war, while its
Iraqi allies build torture chambers and organize death-squads.
Bush, Cheney and Rice
hypocritically claim “we do not torture,” while making clear – in
actions and words – that they do, and fully intend to continue spying,
detaining, torturing and maintaining secret dungeons. The number of hunger strikers at Guantanamo
has nearly doubled because, according to Reuters (12/30/05), “the idea of
spending the rest of [their lives] at Guantanamo without any due process is
simply unbearable.” Recalling the infamous Dr. Mengele, their U.S. captors
have responded by forcing blood and mucus covered force-feeding tubes down
their throats.
With scientists warning
of climate shocks, polar ice melts, and global “tipping points,” the
U.S. walked out of one session of the Montreal Summit on global warming and
continues to sabotage efforts to curb global warming, putting millions around
the world at greater risk from natural disasters, loss of habitat, water
shortages, and famine.
On the eve of World AIDS
Day, the Bush administration expanded its global gag on information vital to
fighting this pandemic, and codified that two-thirds of all aid funds aimed at
preventing HIV infections by sexual transmission must be spent on
abstinence-only programs. Both these
actions have potentially genocidal implications in AIDS-ravaged countries
dependent on U.S. health funds.
In the face of the
massive devastation in New Orleans, Bush continues to neglect the vital needs
of those most severely impacted. Homes are not being rebuilt, services and
schools that would enable the city’s displaced residents to return are not
being restored. Tens of thousands, overwhelmingly Black, are still destitute or
living as refugees, far from their former homes. Many have called this a form
of racial cleansing.
It is not an exaggeration
to state that the future of global humanity is being held hostage – in many
ways and on many fronts – by a criminal cabal in the White House which remains
bent on forging ahead with its cruel, dangerous agenda. A recent Washington Post headline stated,
“Covert CIA Program Withstands New Furor,
Anti-Terror Effort Continues to Grow.”
All this places a great
responsibility on people of conscience, especially here in the US. As the
charter of the Commission of Inquiry states, “When the possibility of
far-reaching war crimes and crimes against humanity exists, people of
conscience have a solemn responsibility to inquire into the nature and scope of
these acts and to determine if they do in fact rise to the level of war crimes
and crimes against humanity.”
In this regard, these
words spoken by Harold Pinter in his acceptance speech for the 2005 Nobel Prize
for Literature, resonate powerfully: “Despite the enormous odds which
exist, unflinching, unswerving, fierce intellectual determination, as citizens,
to define the real truth of our lives and our societies is a crucial obligation
which devolves upon us all.”
And there is a particular
urgency to the Commission’s work now. Questioning, distrust and anger over
actions by the Bush regime have grown by leaps and bounds. But public
comprehension of, and outrage over, the full sweep and scope of the
administration’s agenda – remains far too narrow and muted; too often things
are discussed in terms of “dishonesty,” “misconduct,” and
“law-breaking.” All are true,
but these charges do not begin to capture the enormity of Bush’s crimes – both
those that have occurred and those in the making.
If the current terms of
debate are allowed to stand and the Bush administration is not called to
account for its towering acts against humanity, it will emerge
strengthened. If its actions are not
fully repudiated, they become legitimized and a new “normalcy”
established – only to be shattered by new horrors, with people less able to
respond.
At this critical moment,
the Commission of Inquiry can make a decisive difference. Prominent witnesses rigorously presenting
compelling evidence before a jury of stature, conscience, and expertise can
reveal and galvanize truths that change hearts and minds.
Examining Bush actions
which rise to the level of crimes against humanity – wars of aggression,
torture, global warming, HIV/AIDS policies and Katrina – can deepen each
individual indictment. And by taking
them together, a whole can emerge greater than the sum of its parts: the conscious, systematic malevolence at the
core of the Bush agenda, and how truly unconscionable this regime is on the
scales of history.
This Commission of
Inquiry is an instrumentality of world humanity and an imperative of conscience. It can become a vehicle for the millions
looking for clarity and voice, can change the terms of debate, and can deliver
a powerful and urgently needed “j’accuse” (‘I accuse’) right in
Bush’s brave new “homeland.”
As its Charter
states: “The holding of this
tribunal will frame and fuel a discussion that is urgently needed in the United
States: Is the administration of George W. Bush guilty of war crimes and crimes
against humanity?”
Your participation is
essential to realizing the Commission of Inquiry’s historic mission. Contact our office by phone (212-941-8086),
e-mail at commission@nion.us, or via our website: www.bushcommission.org.
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Larry Everest is an
organizer of the International Commission of Inquiry, a contributor to
Revolution Newspaper (www.revcom.us) and other publications,
and the author of Oil, Power & Empire: Iraq and the U.S. Global Agenda