We need war crimes trials

* george will in wapo (via digby):

"By 1987, when President Ronald Reagan gave his first speech on the subject, 20,798 Americans had died, and his speech, not surprisingly, did not mention any connection to the gay community. No president considers it part of his job description to tell the country that the human rectum, with its delicate and absorptive lining, makes anal-receptive sexual intercourse dangerous when HIV is prevalent."

* kleiman:

There's an old joke about a man who was came to a question on a visa application form that asked whether he supported "the overthrow of the government of the United States by force or violence." He replied: "Violence."

The Rumsfeld Defense Department seems to have the same idea. Confronted with the question of whether to obey the McCain Amendment's ban on "cruel, inhuman, or degrading" treatment of prisoners, they've opted for "degrading."

Where's Senator Straight Talk in all this? Is he content to have written civilized behavior into the statute books without reference to whether it takes place in the field? Bush's "signing statement" was virtually an open declaration that BushCo intended to violate the law anytime they wanted to. Yet the Senator seems unperturbed.

No, impeachment isn't good enough. We need war crimes trials.