Rummy Hit With War Crimes Lawsuit

by Steve

Rummy was hit with a war crimes lawsuit filed in Germany today. And the case has a witness or two who can make life difficult for him:

The star witness against Mr Rumsfeld is the former governor of Abu Ghraib prison, Janis Karpinski. “When I arrived in 2003, the prison held under 500 Iraqis, but, within a month, after a visit by military intelligence, that number had jumped to 3,000,” said Mrs Karpinski.

“Within a further month, the prison was holding 7,800. There was no release procedure in place and most did not know why they were being held.”

She accused Mr Rumsfeld today of authorising the use of torture at the prison and effectively wresting the jail out of her control.

At a public hearing in Berlin today - to press home the prosecution case against Mr Rumsfeld - the former governor described how a senior military intelligence officer, Major General Geoffrey Miller, took command over the prison. He was, according to the case presented to a public hearing today, acting on the orders of Mr Rumsfeld to secure better and quicker intelligence from captured Iraqis.

I don't think Rummy will be traveling overseas any time soon, at least until the lame duck Bush Administration can somehow pressure the Germans to kill this case in their own courts. Maybe Bush will send Condi to Europe to convince them. That should work.

Only the Bush Administration could be lectured on war crimes by the Germans.