Tale of two trials.

Was listening to NPR the other morning, much to my annoyance (no, I'm NOT going to contribute anything, thank you very much!) and I heard a story about a former high official of the Siad Barre regime in Somalia facing possible war crimes prosecution in the United States (where he now resides). Some of his torture victims now live in the U.S. as well, and would like to get some justice. Fair enough. While the correspondent took the time to describe how heinous that regime was, she neglected to mention the fact that our government had sent them something like $1 billion over the Carter, Reagan, and Bush I years. Small detail.

Also heard reports about Radovan Karadzic's trial for war crimes. I have to admit, the first thing that came to mind was the happy accident of Dick Cheney's having been born in the United States. What a pity that Karadzic hadn't started the Iraq war instead of killing tens of thousands of Bosnians! He would be enjoying his comfortable retirement right now, perhaps even bragging about his war crimes on network television, instead of standing in the dock at The Hague. Same deal with that Somalian intelligence chief. Perhaps his adopted homeland will offer him some kind of legal protection, since (clearly) torture is not considered a serious, prosecutable crime here... so long as it is practiced on those we dislike.

Perhaps it's unfair of me to single out NPR. I just guess I'm getting annoyed with hearing Jim DeMint, Judd Gregg, or some other "conservative" leading light every time I tune in. On Thursday I got to hear from a Democrat.... Bart Stupak. Who's running Washington again? (Oh, yes. On Wednesday, during the "Political Junkie" segment of "Talk of the Nation", there was an extended conversation with Mitt Romney, a.k.a. Guy Smiley, a.k.a. Bush redux.) Meanwhile, the daughter of our own Karadzic is reviving McCarthyism with a web commercial attacking what she terms "The Al Qaeda Seven" in the Obama justice department. So not only does the war criminal brag of his guilt in plain sight, but his spawn is somehow treated as possessed of some expertise by virtue of her father's ill deeds.

How green with envy old Radovan must be.

luv u,

jp

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