what fate? be charged in absentia in France.....so they just cant go to France anymore...big flippin deal....This whole war has become a mess, but some of the far left seem to have this jerk off fantasy of those in the administration being impeached or prosecuted for war crimes and it is NOT going to happen Bush is going to leave office and go back to Crawford, maybe write a book and disappear quietly......
I'm skeptical about the war crimes stuff, but I think it could be an impeachable offense. About a couple weeks ago, I read John Dean's book "Worse than Watergate" and there was an interesting section in it.
In "Public Law 107-243", the joint resolution of congress that authorized use of force against Iraq, there were 23 "whereas" clauses. These are introductory statements, essentially window dressing and pretty much opinions. They have no legal binding effect. The only section that has a "legal binding effect" is what comes after the "resolving clause"- "Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled".
Congress then gave the unprecedented authority to the president of launching a war without further advance notice of Congress. But Congress did want a formal determination by the president, within 48 hours of using force or before doing so, stating that (1) further diplomatic means alone would not resolve the "continuing threat" and (2) the military action was part of the overall response to terrorism, including dealing with those involved in "the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001." Essentially, Congress wanted the president to prove 2 points that were the central themes of his argument for war.
On March 18, 2001 the president sent his formal "determination" to Congress, which used the language of Public Law 107-243" as his determination. Accompanying this "determination" (a letter sent to the Speaker of the House and the president of the Senate) was the "Report in Connection with Presidential Determination under Public Law 107-243." To quote H.L. Mencken "It is rumble and bumble, it is flap and doodle, it is balder and dash."
The report explains that the president made his determination by relying on congressional findings of fact, which never existed. Example- for the American with Disabilities Act, Congress had it's own inquiry which was explained after the statement "the Congress finds that...." Basically, The president relied on information that the White House provided Congress for its draft resolution, then turned around and claimed that this information came from Congress.
The rest of the report used various "whereas clauses" of the joint resolution as Congressional findings, or statements of fact.
