Monday, June 26, 2006

“No Amnesty for War Crimes” Should Go Both Ways

(AP) Senator John Warner is concerned about the new Iraqi conciliation plan offered by Prime Minister al-Maliki. It extends amnesty to opposition and insurgent figures who have not been involved in terrorist activity. U.S. lawmakers are up in arms over the possibility of Iraqi amnesty for killers of coalition soldiers. Senator Warner professed his preference for “no amnesty for anyone who committed an act of violence, of war crimes.”

The distinguished Senator from Virginia also said “I want the Iraqi people to take this decision unto themselves and make it correctly.” My guess is the Iraqi people want all war crimes prosecuted, those committed by opposition/insurgent/terrorist figures and those delivered by their liberators. A complete accounting is in order for true reconciliation to occur. If U.S. lawmakers can focus on the stick in the other’s eye, it makes it much easier to ignore the log in our own.

P.S. The AP at the beginning of the post represents the author’s initials

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