Bashir and Bush

The World is witnessing the indictment of Sudanese President Omar Bashir for war crimes. A leader is being held responsible for his acts.

President Omar Bashir (Sudan) and President George Bush

With the impeachment of George W. Bush "off the table," people could turn to the next logical option to hold him responsible for his acts: criminal prosecution. Bush might wish, some day, that he had simply gotten away with impeachment rather than criminal prosecution and punishment.

Mark Levine, a University of California professor, is drawing a parallel between the indictment of Sudanese president Omar Bashir and George Bush's crimes. Levine observes that, with the change of a couple words in the Bashir indictment, it could be applied to Bush:

[Bush] was directly responsible. He is the president. He is the commander-in-chief. Those are not just formal words. He used the whole state apparatus. He used the army; he enrolled the [military]. They all report to him. They all obey him. His control is absolute.

Absolute control. Absolute responsibility. Absolute liability.

Sources:

Al Jazeera, First al-Bashir, next ... Bush? by Mark Levine, July 16, 2008. http://english.aljazeera.net/focus/2008/07/20087166397881715.html

Mark Levine is a professor of Middle East history at the University of California, Irvine and is the author of the newly released Heavy Metal Islam: Rock, Resistance, and the Struggle for the Soul of Islam.