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Post #14 by SimeyTheLimey
Source Forumchemical ali is dead — #14
CategoryTroubleshooting
Post DateMon, 7 Apr 2003 - 09:25
Original URLhttps://web.archive.org/web/20050523071144/https://forums.macnn.com/showthread.php?t=154559
Post
Quote:
Originally posted by Logic:
But I'm sure some humanrights court should have. . . One last question. Would W be a legitimate military target since he is commander-in-chief(or something like that)?


What other human rights court? The ICC is it. The other ones in the Hague are special courts of limited jurisdiction set up by the Security Council. One deals only with Rwanda, the other only with the Balkans. It's possible that after the war there will be some kind of Nuremberg-style war crimes trials. Bush has said as much. But remember, Nuremberg was purely victor's justice.

Your second question is hotly debated. The president of the United States is the Commander-in-Chief, and some argue that would make him a legitimate military target in a time of war. On the other hand, he is clearly considered a civilian political leader under US domestic law. I've seen arguments go both ways and I don't think that any firm conclusion has ever been reached. In the mean time, I'm sure the Secret Service is being quite careful and unlike Baghdad, there aren't any tanks driving around our presidential grounds.

Incidentally, I seem to recall reading that during WW-II people started advising Churchill to be careful because his habit of wearing an RAF uniform could be construed as turning him into a legitimate military target. So this isn't a new issue.