Alex Neve, the Secretary General of Amnesty International Canada, is calling for the Canadian government to arrest former President George W. Bush when he arrives in that country this week to participate in an economic conference. His justification? Neve falsely claims that Bush "admits" in his memoirs that he authorized the use of torture.
Why wait until next week? Maybe Neve should call on Canadian Special Forces to undertake a pre-dawn raid, just like the one U.S. Navy SEALs pulled off in Pakistan earlier this year to eliminate the detestable terrorist leader Osama bin Laden. While they're at it, maybe they should go after Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Colin Powell, Paul Wolfowitz, and Condi Rice. Then they can take them all back to the Great White North where they can be judged, Nuremberg style, for their war crimes.
Of course, Bush and his team will be forced to argue that they used enhanced interrogation techniques that were vetted by Justice Department lawyers. Or that little matter of having used the information to prevent further catastrophic attacks on innocent Americans; beat back the Taliban so that little girls in Afghanistan could do radical things like attend school; and capture madmen belonging to a fascist death cult intent on bringing murder and mayhem to infidels in the West. You know, things like that.
Once upon a time, Amnesty International worked against fascism. It used to organize its members to protest the imprisonment of dissidents who were purely political prisoners--brave souls who put their lives on the line for free speech and democracy. Amnesty's heyday was during the Cold War, and once upon a time, I was a proud member of the group. Thankfully, those days went the way of the Berlin Wall.
But there is hope! Perhaps I'll start an Amnesty-like letter writing campaign to Secretary General Neve, asking him to use his resources and influence to counter the misogyny of Islamic extremists instead of seeking headlines by foolishly trying to portray George W. Bush as a war criminal.
If it works, I might even renew my membership!