The Maid at The Hague is Now Cleaning a Room For George W. Bush.

Some time ago, I wrote a post called Mr Bush, Meet Mr Milosevic. He’s your New Cell Mate. The main point was that under the Bush presidency, the U.S. has lost its moral authority in the world, and increasingly appears to be fighting an uphill battle just to regain moral credibility. Given our past position on war criminals like Slobodan Milosevic, we may eventually need to turn over Mr. Bush for prosecution in the International Criminal Court, in order to undo all that Bush and his cronies have wrought!

Well, it looks like when we do, Mr. Bush will be able to get his own cell, as Milosevic was found dead – under somewhat unusual circumstances. As it seems, Milosevic was arguing (as his own lawyer) that he was not getting appropriate medical treatment at The Hague, and that he needed to go to Moscow for treatment for his heart condition. In what appears to be an enormous tactical over-reaction that was typical of the man, he may have been deliberately taking medications to undo the benefits of his regular treatment – leading him to die of a massive heart attack! Josh Marshall at TPM has more.

As some of our readers know, I have a particular interest and experience with the former Yugoslavia, having traveled extensively in Croatia – including many areas that were affected by a war that was largely fomented by Milosevic using the propaganda of fear and ethnic mistrust to turn neighbor against neighbor. Consequently, I share Josh’s view of the irony of Milosevic' death. Although by dying in a prison cell, he seems to have come to an appropriate end, I feel some regret that the trial will not reach a historically appropriate conclusion.