A Question for All the Presidential Candidates
October 6, 2007
As President, would you extradite George Bush or other high-level officials of the current administration to face charges of torture, violation of human rights, or war crimes before an international crimes court?
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Stump Lane 
For me, the answer would be easy. Give ’em a fair trial in Nuremberg then take them out back and hang them.
I can’t condone a death sentence carried out by the international community any more than I would if we were talking about some state entity.
However exile to Iraq… Fallujah perhaps… I could go along with that.
My dear Montag,
It is unlikely that any international court dealing with alleged war crimes in the former Iraq would have the death penalty as an option – the Europeans wouldn’t stand for it.
For this reason, those whose preferred outcome of a fair trial is hanging should insist on a trial in the United States. I used to agree, although I had elaborated an elaborately ceremonial scenario of a globally televised firing squad in the White House Rose Garden, with military bands, precision aerobatic flyovers by fighter planes, etc.
Now, however, I agree with you – governments should kill people only when it’s absolutely necessary – and when you have someone in custody, it’s not necessary.