Why the possibility of Trump paying for his crimes while George W. Bush 'walks free' is 'obscene': columnist
Author and columnist Ben Burgis hopes former President Donald Trump is held accountable for his crimes.
However, the philosophy professor is curious to know why Trump is facing possible arrest, while former President George W. Bush continues "to walk free."
Reflecting on the recent 20th anniversary of the invasion of Iraq, Burgis notes "the decision to invade wasn't just a 'mistake' (however tragic or catastrophic) but a crime."
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He writes:
I don't just mean a moral crime—although it was certainly that. An entire nation was cluster-bombed, invaded, and occupied for years against the will of the bulk of its populace because of claims about 'Weapons of Mass Destruction' never supported by any meaningful evidence.
In 2019, CNN's Mehdi Hasan wrote an op-ed for The Intercept, in response to comedian Ellen Degeneres' comments regarding her friendship with Bush, noting she is "friends with a lot of people who don't share the same beliefs that I have."
Hasan asserted the former president's beliefs are "irrelevant" in this case, but it's "his actions that matter."
The CNN host called former Texas governor "one of the most destructive presidents in modern American history; a man who has never been held to account for a long litany of crimes, misdeeds, and abuses of power committed during his two bloodstained terms in office.
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He emphasized, "'43' should be treated as a pariah is not because he is a Republican or a conservative, but because he caused the deaths of thousands of innocent people and tortured hundreds of others."
Burgis hold the same belief, writing:
No matter how many Cambodian villagers burned to death when napalm was dumped on their villages, or how many grandmothers were ripped apart when cluster bombs were dropped on crowded neighborhoods in Baghdad, neither our legal system nor our political culture can bring ourselves to think of any of that as a 'crime.' The people who died? They might as well not be people at all.
He asserts, if Trump is arrested — not only should Bush face accountability, but Dick Cheney and former U.S. Secretary of State, Henry Kissinger should, too.
When it comes to the indelible impact of war, Burgis asks, "How does that crime — in the strict literal sense of that word — compare with paying hush money to Stormy Daniels?"
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Burgis' full column is available at this link (subscription required).
