Saleh v. Bush is a 2013 class action lawsuit filed against members of the George W. Bush administration for their alleged involvement in premeditating and carrying out the Iraq War. The suit is being brought to court by Inder Comar of Comar Law, against former president George W. Bush, former vice president Dick Cheney, former secretary of defense Donald Rumsfeld, former national security adviser and secretary of state Condoleezza Rice, former secretary of state Colin Powell, and former deputy secretary of defense and president of the World Bank Paul Wolfowitz.[1] [2]
Lead plaintiff Sundus Shaker Saleh alleges that the defendants planned the war as early as 1998, capitalizing on the September 11 attacks in 2001 to ramp up support for the invasion through fear tactics and intentional misinformation. The suit argues that the true purpose of the subsequent war in 2003 was to enact regime change in Iraq, and as such the war was not carried out in self defense, nor with the authorization of the UN Security Council or other relevant international treaties.[1]
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The Obama Administration's Department of Justice has sought to protect the defendants twice to date, with a motion to dismiss the Saleh v. Bush charge on August 20, 2013[29] and another one on November 29, 2013.[30] The DOJ cites the Westfall Act,[31] claiming that the defendants were acting within their scope of employment when planning and waging the Iraq War, and therefore can not be held individually accountable for the harm caused. The Westfall Act rules that harm done within the scope of employment is the responsibility of the employer. In this case the employer is the United States government, which is protected by sovereign immunity, the legal doctrine that a sovereign state can not commit a crime and is immune from prosecution.
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On August 15, 2014 The United States will have an ability to respond to the second amended complaint. A hearing date had been set for September 11, 2014.[33] On August 18, 2014, the Northern District of California reset the hearing date for November 13, 2014.[34] The hearing date was canceled on November 3, 2014.[35] On 19 December 2014, the lawsuit was dismissed with prejudice.[36] A notice of appeal with the United States Court of Appeal for the Ninth Circuit was filed on January 16, 2015.[37]
There you have it.
More importantly Hussein wants to keep the option of creating mayhem around the world open without the pesky courts reviewing what was done in hindsight.
I guess it's in the job description.
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