After posting about bringing Dick Cheney’s former ally and fellow war criminal to justice, I saw this item:

A raucous group of protesters gathered outside a Surrey, [British Columbia], hotel Thursday, hoisting colourful cardboard placards, shouting into megaphones and looking and sounding much like the masses who have converged for Occupy rallies in cities across Canada. But unlike their counterparts, this group had a single, united objective – to secure the arrest of George W. Bush.

… Amnesty International, along with several other peace and human rights organizations, contend Bush should be tried under Canadian and international law for war crimes, including torture. They point to what they call the illegal invasion of Iraq and his administration’s admitted use of techniques like waterboarding as evidence of crimes

Meanwhile, Toronto Star was bringing hopes of arresting Bush in Canada back down to earth:

No doubt many Canadians would be happy to see Bush hauled before a court. But it is up to the U.S. and its credible legal system, not the wider world, to deal with this matter. That’s codified in the Rome Statute that set up the International Criminal Court, and in the Convention against Torture.

If the U.S. is unwilling or unable, complainants have recourse to the ICC itself, even though the U.S. is not a party to the statute. The ICC can look, for example, into the dubious practice of “extraordinary rendition” if crimes were committed in countries that are party to the statute. Uninvolved parties such as Canada have no cause to get involved until every other avenue has been exhausted.

The Star has some of its facts straight, but I take issue with its use of the word “credible,” and its opinion that Canada “has no cause” to become involved. Bush canceled a trip to Switzerland last winter because he feared possible arrest. There is nothing credible about Barack Obama’s justice department or his decision to ignore his predecessor’s war crimes.

Bottom line: Lucky Libyan rebels — lucky because NATO fought their war for them — cornered Moammar Gaddafi in a drainpipe. American soldiers found Saddam Hussein in a spider hole. The ICC will never arrest Bush as he’s “clearing brush” in Crawford, TX, but maybe it can nab him as he steps off an airplane outside the United States. That goes for Bush’s shadow boss Cheney, too.

However, as John Wayne and Buddy Holly would say, “That’ll be the day.”