I finally realized why Obama and Congress never punished Bush/Cheney war crimes...

[yurbud]

You can't punish your own war criminals, other countries have to do it for you.

So who should teach us a lesson?

We will certainly have to suck it and say we deserved it if some of our civilians who live near depleted uranium, white phosphorous, and napalm facilities are accidentally killed.

But that is far preferable than Congress impeaching a then president or the attorney general indicting a past president and his cabinet for war crimes and a judge and jury trying the case, which, while unlikely to result in prison time, would be an embarrassment and inconvenience to those charged.

[Solly Mack]

1. Had some other nation decided that missile drops were the best response to

America violating international law, or international "norms", if you will, for the U.S. governments use of torture (war crime/crime against humanity), for example?

I'd imagine such a "What if" wouldn't make it too far past the reflexive "But we're America!" stage.

And...the U.S. government would consider such punishment an act of war.

[yurbud]

2. It's a good think no one thought of that as the solution to slavery, genocide of Native Americans

or our expansion by force into Mexico, the Pacific, and Caribbean.

[GeorgeGist]

3. You forgot Nagasaki and Hiroshima.

[yurbud]

4. most people don't know that was optional. Japan had one condition for surrender...

that they be allowed to keep the emperor.

We said no, nuked them, and then let them keep the emperor.

That sounds a bit avoidable.

[leftstreet]

5. +1