In a little-noticed admission last week, billionaire real estate mogul Donald Trump, who currently leads all likely Republican candidates for the presidential nomination in 2012, admitted that he would commit war crimes if he were elected president.
The startling claim went without controversy until today, whenGood Magazine pointed out that Trump's "plan" to seize $1.5 trillion from Iraq's oil profits to "reemburse ourselves" for the invasion and subsequent occupation would actually be an explicit violation of international law -- a violation considered to be a war crime.
"According to the 1907 Hague Convention, 'pillaging,' the stealing of valuable goods from a locality, especially during combat, is a war crime, regardless of what you feel you deserve," noted Cord Jefferson, Good's senior editor. "In the Hague's exact words: 'The pillage of a town or place, even when taken by assault, is prohibited.'"
Many have suggested that Trump's "campaign" may not be entirely serious: that he may only be doing it to get his show on NBC renewed for another season.
The billionaire has not said whether he'll officially launch a campaign, but he's become a staple guest on the Fox News Channel, where he's been given carte blanche to promote unfounded conspiracy theoriesabout President Barack Obama's birthplace.
A poll in February found that in a hypothetical match-up, Trump would lose to President Obama by just two percent of the vote.
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