The U.S. will never allow any former president to get prosecuted because the precedent is too severe.
By all reasonable accounts, GW Bush should have been prosecuted for war crimes. Trump should have been prosecuted the moment he left office for a spectrum of crimes. There is even a strong argument that Obama should have been prosecuted for drone strikes on citizen combatants.
But power protects power, and the moment that seal is broken all hell breaks loose amongst the ruling class.
How many people were held accountable for the 2008 crash? Zero. That would mean everyone else has to stop their criming too.
Who knows, maybe Trump is stupid and petty enough to take revenge on his enemies. If he does, no doubt his entire administration is the next against the wall as soon as the winds change.
Nixon certainly would've been prosecuted if he hadn't been pardoned.
> There is even a strong argument that Obama should have been prosecuted for drone strikes on citizen combatants.
I don't think this is very strong at all. There is zero evidence that Obama intentionally targeted civilians outside of al-Awlaki. Suggesting that he did, and that he should be prosecuted for war crimes, puts him in the same moral category as those who ordered actual torture on enemy combatants and launched wars on fabricated evidence. It's preposterous.
mingus88|11 months ago
By all reasonable accounts, GW Bush should have been prosecuted for war crimes. Trump should have been prosecuted the moment he left office for a spectrum of crimes. There is even a strong argument that Obama should have been prosecuted for drone strikes on citizen combatants.
But power protects power, and the moment that seal is broken all hell breaks loose amongst the ruling class.
How many people were held accountable for the 2008 crash? Zero. That would mean everyone else has to stop their criming too.
Who knows, maybe Trump is stupid and petty enough to take revenge on his enemies. If he does, no doubt his entire administration is the next against the wall as soon as the winds change.
nozzlegear|11 months ago
> There is even a strong argument that Obama should have been prosecuted for drone strikes on citizen combatants.
I don't think this is very strong at all. There is zero evidence that Obama intentionally targeted civilians outside of al-Awlaki. Suggesting that he did, and that he should be prosecuted for war crimes, puts him in the same moral category as those who ordered actual torture on enemy combatants and launched wars on fabricated evidence. It's preposterous.
riffraff|11 months ago
It's just that in the meantime the rule of law in the US died and he was elected again.
If there are elections in 2028 and MAGA loses he's toast. Big if.
FireBeyond|11 months ago
According to the rules we put in place at Nuremburg, EVERY US President since World War 2 has committed war crimes.
philwelch|11 months ago