Eminent jurists, professional legal organizations, and human rights monitors in this country and around the world have declared that President George W. Bush may be prosecuted as a war criminal when he leaves office for his overt and systematic violations of such international law as the Geneva and Hague Conventions and such US law as the War Crimes Act, the Anti-Torture Act, and federal assault laws. George W. Bush, War Criminal? identifies and documents 269 specific war crimes under US and international law for which President Bush, senior officials and staff in his administration, and military officers under his command are liable to be prosecuted. Haas divides the 269 war crimes of the Bush administration into four classes: 6 war crimes committed in launching a war of aggression; 36 war crimes committed in the conduct of war; 175 war crimes committed in the treatment of prisoners; and 52 war crimes committed in postwar occupations.
For each of the 269 war crimes of the Bush administration, Professor Haas gives chapter and verse in precise but non-technical language, including the specific acts deemed to be war crimes, the names of the officials deemed to be war criminals, and the exact language of the international or domestic laws violated by those officials. The author proceeds to consider the various US, international, and foreign tribunals in which the war crimes of Bush administration defendants may be tried under applicable bodies of law. He evaluates the real-world practicability of bringing cases against Bush and Bush officials in each of the possible venues. Finally, he weighs the legal, political, and humanitarian pros and cons of actually bringing Bush and Bush officials to trial for war crimes.
Reviews
"I highly recommend, both for reading and for sending to Eric Holder, George W. Bush: War Criminal? The Bush Administration's Liability for 269 War Crimes by Michael Haas. This is a phenomenal work..."—www.opednews.com, January 16, 2009
"Haas (political science, emeritus, Univ. of Hawaii) is the first author to compile a comprehensive list of alleged war crimes committed by the Bush administration during its global war against international terrorism. Haas’s benchmark is the set of Geneva Conventions adopted after World War II, of which the United States was a critical state sponsor. At the least, this work should be read with close scrutiny, given Haas’s insistence on the centrality of the rule of law even (or especially) in time of international conflict—an insistence recognized by the U.S. Supreme Court, most notably in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld (2006), in which the Court overturned the Bush administration’s system of military commissions. Perhaps most likely to be acknowledged (and even then it’s a long shot) is Haas’s call for a truth commission to investigate the past deeds of various Bush officials, including the President himself. This work’s greatest achievement, however, may be its detailed treatment of the Geneva Conventions and their role in establishing an international regime based on the rule of law, a regime applicable to American law and politics. Highly recommended, especially for serious students of the topics covered.'
"—Library Journal, May 15, 2009
"In a straightforward and relatively non-legalistic manner, Haas (emeritus, political science, U. of Hawaii) presents the evidence that the administration of George W. Bush committed 269 war crimes in the prosecution of its wars and occupations. His approach is to systematically go through the Geneva Conventions and all the other relevant instruments of the laws of war, quoting the relevant passages of the various treaties and then immediately following up with a brief description of how the Bush administration violated that particular provision. He also offers a brief concluding discussion of how and why the Bush administration should be prosecuted for having committed war crimes."—Reference & Research Book News, May 1, 2009
"Michael Haas's book on the Bush administration's war crimes is a carefully researched, fact-based assessment of many of the crimes committed by George Bush and his people, both domestically and internationally. America will not find its way again in the world until the Bush administration has been held accountable for them. Haas's identification of these crimes is an important step in advancing that goal."—Vincent Bugliosi, author, The Prosecution of George W. Bush for Murder (2008)
"Mike Haas has compiled an impressive and comprehensive case to suggest that the Bush administration has committed numerous war crimes in relation to its wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and its so-called war on terror. The Bush administration has sought to put itself beyond the reach of the law, which should be intolerable in a civilized world."—Dr. Eric Herring, Reader in International Politics at the University of Bristol, co-author of Iraq in Fragments: The Occupation and its Legacy
"This important and timely book, making use of evidence that is wholly within the public domain, establishes beyond any doubt that George W. Bush should and must be charged with the commission of war crimes--and not just one war crime--but 269 war crimes. It is a handbook of Bush war crimes that must be used by all of us: activists, politicians and anyone who cares about a better world. The Bush administration has taken us, as Cheney said it would, to the dark side. Haas's book gives us the hope at least that the criminals in the Bush administration and Bush himself can be brought to justice."—Michael Ratner, President, Center for Constitutional Rights
"269 war crimes! We have to go back to mid-twentieth century to find something similar. Shame on that president and his regime, shame on the media conspiracy of silence that gave us bits and pieces but not the whole picture, and enormous gratitude to Professor Haas for doing that overdue job! Next steps: a truth commission to get at the bottom of the rot in the leader of the free world and a world tribunal to draw the consequences."—Johan Galtung, Professor of Peace Studies, Recipient of the Right Livelihood Award
