The Prosecution of George W. Bush for Murder

The Prosecution of George W. Bush for Murder is a 2008 book by former prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi. It argues that George W. Bush took the United States into the invasion of Iraq under false pretenses and should be tried for murder for the deaths of American soldiers in Iraq. The book sold over 130,000 copies within its first three months of release. The book was made into a documentary titled The Prosecution of an American President and was released on DVD on October 7, 2014. Content and themes: Bugliosi argues that Bush intentionally misled Congress and the American people about the evidence that he said mandated going into Iraq and overthrowing Saddam Hussein. Therefore, Bugliosi argues, under the felony-murder rule the deaths of over 4,000 American soldiers and 100,000 Iraqi civilians (as of spring 2008) since hostilities began amount at the very least to second-degree murder. He further states that any of the 50 state attorneys general, as well as any district attorney in the United States, has ample grounds to indict Bush for the murder of any soldier or soldiers who live in their state or county. Bugliosi says that if he were prosecuting the case, he would seek imposition of the death penalty, and that impeachment alone would be "a joke", considering the magnitude of Bush's alleged crimes. The strongest evidence against Bush, Bugliosi says, is a speech on October 7, 2002 claiming that Iraq posed an imminent threat to the security of the United States and was capable of attacking America at any time with his stockpile of weapons of mass destruction. A National Intelligence Estimate of less than a week earlier stated that while Iraq did have WMD capabilities, it had no plans to use its weapons except in the capacity of self-defense, or if the United States threatened to attack Iraq. Moreover, according to Bugliosi, the president and his administration edited the "White Paper", or declassified version of the NIE released to Congress and the public, censored in a way that made the Iraqi threat seem more ominous than it actually was. Throughout the book, the former prosecutor also castigates Bush for his callous and cavalier attitude regarding the death and suffering of American Soldiers. Bugliosi refers to Bush as a "whimpish punk" and a "disgrace". He points out that the President actually said to Iraqi troops to "bring it on" and try to attack American soldiers. Bugliosi's investigation revealed that Bush spent two and a half years of his Presidency at various vacation spots such as Camp David and his Texas ranch. In addition, Bugliosi asserts that the Manning Memo shows that, far from making serious efforts to avoid war, Bush considered the possibility of provoking Saddam into starting a war by sending U-2 reconnaissance aircraft, falsely painted in UN colors, on flights over Iraq along with fighter escorts, and if Saddam ordered them shot down, it would constitute war. He also argues that Bush pressured intelligence agencies to find proof that Saddam helped al-Qaeda plan the September 11, 2001 attacks.