On Tuesday, April 22, 2008, the United States of America and twenty-three other nations around the world initiated one of history's most spectacular international tribunals. The trial began at the Hague in the Netherlands, determined to convict George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, and Donald Rumsfeld of high treason against the United States and crimes against humanity, as defined within the context of international law. In addition to these three being tried posthumously were all 533 deceased members of the U.S. Congress, described in court records as the "most corrupt, cowardly, incompetent, arrogant, self-centered body ever to occupy the United States Capitol Building". Listed as co-conspirators, all of the former Bush cabinet members and approximately 11,000 others identified by name, were corporate CEOs, bankers, government bureaucrats, movie stars, lawyers, entertainment industry executives, athletes, and assorted celebrities, all of whom had been killed in the January 17th bombings across America.
Civil war had erupted in Iraq in early 2007, as feuding insurgents continued to gain ground throughout that war-ravaged country. It had tripled the number of U.S. soldiers killed, quadrupled the number of Iraqi civilians fatally injured, and proved to the world that the Bush administration and all of the United States' military might was impotent against these small bands of rag-tag rebels who were willing to fight to the death for their beliefs. Ten thousand U.S. soldiers were now dead; thousands more were injured, many permanently.
On Monday, March 17, 2008, Interim President Colin Powell had flown to Dover Air Force Base to meet the flag-draped casket of the 10,000th U.S. soldier killed in Iraq. It was the first of many visit Powell and McCain would make to Dover, Delaware - something former President George W. Bush had never bothered to do. Apparently, dead soldiers were of little importance to Bush; such 'collateral damage' came with the territory, but was certainly nothing to be concerned about. Casualties were a part of war, Bush reasoned. His presence would not bring those dead soldiers back, and - besides - he couldn't be bothered with such trivial incidentals; he had more important things to do.
Oil industry executives who had manipulated the price of gasoline were indicted in this international court of justice. Athletes and celebrities who squandered millions on themselves without regard for those less fortunate were now dead, and were also being accused of crimes against humanity. CEOs who ruined companies and destroyed employees' lives while grabbing all the millions they could for themselves were among the long list of those about to stand in posthumous judgment. The trial would take months - perhaps years. Attorneys working on this unprecedented case were being paid a minimal flat retainer with no chance of any hefty settlement or recovery bonus. They were sworn to secrecy, having taken an oath that they would in no way capitalize from their efforts, under penalty of being added to the list of indictments, and tried with the very same societal offenses.
This was an important step for O.U.T.R.A.G.E. because it - hopefully - would justify why the revolutionary organization had done what it did. Hundreds of thousands of O.U.T.R.A.G.E. members were hopeful that the court would agree with their motives and sympathize with their actions. The O.U.T.R.A.G.E. victims included most of the top 1% of America's wealthiest individuals, as well as thousands of mega-rich corporations and thousands of government personnel. Propety damage had been estimated to be in the hundreds of billions of dollars. O.U.T.R.A.G.E. members desperately wanted their day in court for vindication. They needed a court of law and center of justice to agree: what the members of O.U.T.R.A.G.E. had done, needed to be done, and was done with the purest of purpose. Without such legal justification, the O.U.T.R.A.G.E. actions would only serve as a precedent to further bloodshed and mass murder. That was not the desired outcome; and the O.U.T.R.A.G.E. defense became paramount to its continued peacekeeping functions.
As the clean-up from the bombings, hurricane and earthquake would continue for years, so this phenomenal court case would continue. It was an unparalleled legal challenge, one that could change the course of world history.