President Obama is due to speak tonight on Syria and it is unclear what he will say but it is safe to assume that the President will assume that he has the right to bomb Syria if he wants to.
It's a prerogative that all US presidents assume, the right to kill any foreigner anywhere. It is never in question. The only matters debated: which foreigners shall we kill, for what purpose?
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Tuesday, September 10, 2013
Notes on Syria
Wednesday, May 15, 2013
Follow Guatemala's Lead: Convene a Genocide Case Grand Jury.
A Guatemalan court has ordered a criminal investigation of all others involved in the Rios Montt crimes.
It won't be easy. Prosecutors and judges will be risking their careers and lives. Witnesses will know that they might die if they come forward to give evidence.
But Guatemalans have already shown great courage in advancing the Rios Montt case. It's time for Americans to do the same and convene a US grand jury on Guatemala.
US prosecutors could aid law enforcement in two fundamental ways: first, with information and second, if warranted, with indictments.
The US, which supported Rios Montt's army, has vast stores of information.
It should all be turned over to the prosecutors in Guatemala.
A proper disclosure would include still-classified White House, Pentagon, NSA, CIA and State Department documents, as well as US intercepts of communications among General Rios Montt and his army.
It's important to remember that at the time of these crimes, as now, the US was not a mere outside observer: it was a full-fledged participant.
US bombs were dropped from US-supplied aircraft on fleeing Mayan villagers. US personnel were present in Guatemala, training and giving advice to the Rios Montt army. US personnel were inside the G-2, the notorious military intelligence and targeting unit. The CIA carried many top Guatemalan army commanders on its payroll.
And Rios Montt, as he was committing the crimes, got political support from President Reagan, personally.
So the US has responsibilities here, moral and political but also legal.
The US should now confess to Guatemalan law-enforcement.
It should tell them everything: what it knew, what it did, who it paid.
And the US should also indict and try any current or former US official who was accessory or accomplice -- or worse -- to the Rios Montt crimes.
And, of course, it should also be ready to comply with its responsibilities by being willing to extradite any US officials charged in Guatemala.
US prosecutors have an obligation to take these steps.
This case involves crimes of the highest magnitude.
US law enforcers who step forward might indeed run some career risk.
But unlike so many Guatemalans so far, they can be pretty sure they'll live.
Allan Nairn
(For some references re. the US role see posts of April 18 and May 9, 2013)
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Monday, May 13, 2013
Additional Evidence on Perez Molina
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Still Alive
One of the many profound ramifications of the genocide conviction of Rios Montt is that there is now new incentive for additional witnesses to come forward.
It's one thing to risk your life when the chance of justice seems remote, but it's another when it starts to look like a fair hearing might indeed be possible.
After Judge Jazmin Barrios delivered the verdict in the Rios Montt trial, the Maya Ixil survivors in the audience -- many of whom had given testimony -- stood up, crossed their arms across their chests, and bowed to the court, saying "Thank you."
Any uncaught murderer watching that had to feel a sudden chill.
His victims are safely dead and gone.
But those who know what he did? Still alive.
Allan Nairn
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Saturday, May 11, 2013
A Formal Legal Mandate for a Criminal Investigation of Guatemala's Current President, Perez Molina
General Efrain Rios Montt has been found guilty of genocide and crimes against humanity. He has already begun his "irrevocable" sentence of 80 years in prison.
The court that convicted Rios Montt has also ordered the attorney general to launch an immediate investigation of "all others" connected to the crimes.
But that is up to Perez Molina.
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Thursday, May 9, 2013
The Guatemala Genocide Case: Testimony Notes Regarding Rios Montt
The case against General Rios Montt has included vast amounts of evidence.
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Guatemala: The decisive moment has arrived.
The next 12 to 36 hours will be crucial for the Rios Montt genocide trial.
The trial was suspended on April 18 after intervention by Guatemala's President and death threats by army associates against judges and prosecutors.
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Friday, April 26, 2013
On the Margins of the Law -- But Inside the Palace
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General Perez Molina is Tito.
General Otto Perez Molina, the President of Guatemala, surprised many yesterday by finally admitting verbally that he is in fact Major Tito, who I met and interviewed on film in 1982.
It was an application of the politician's tactic of getting out in front of a damaging story to frame it in their own way, in this case trying to move focus from the fact that he was field commander during the Rios Montt massacres to the minor, innocuous fact that while doing so he used a pseudonym to, he said, protect his family.
Protecting one's family is admirable but it was unfortunately not an option for the many thousands of defenseless civilians massacred by Rios Montt's -- and Perez Molina's -- army.
Allan Nairn
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Tuesday, April 23, 2013
If Enough Forces Weigh In, the Trial Can Resume.
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A Little Too Close to the Bone
* Hang figuratively, that is. Guatemala has de facto abolished the death penalty, unlike the US, China and Saudi Arabia.
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Monday, April 22, 2013
A Crossing in the Cuchumatanes
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