U.S. Pulls Out of International Court Treaty

Good riddance. As a member of the US Armed Forces, the idea of being called up for "war crimes" because someone has his skivvies in a bunch offends me deeply.

This court is flawed in other ways. It specifically excludes terrorism.

One provision criminalizes the transfer of civilian populations into territory the government occupies.

(Both of the above appear to be aimed at Israel)

Weapons of mass destruction (such as nuclear or biological weapons) are excluded.

Within hours of the ratification of the court, proposals to indict Israeli leaders began to proliferate. Any doubts that the court was to be used as a weapon against Israel (and the United States, its primary benefactor) were laid to rest when these demands were made, before the ink had time to dry.

This was not the first time the Palestinians had tried this gambit. Since Belgium has decided that they are the moral authority of the world, and can try anyone for war crimes, the Palestinians petitioned for Sharon to be indicted there.

For more on this issue, see this post at USS Clueless. His post sums up why this court is a bad idea. The US should not be a party to bad ideas, and Bush is doing the right thing, despite what the EU-nuchs and the media elite in this country would have us believe.

posted on May 06, 2002 07:33 PM



Comments:

Every so often, Dubya reminds you of why he is a better president than Gore would be. You think Gore would think twice about getting us involved in the World Court?

posted by TVH on May 7, 2002 02:30 PM

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I have no doubt that that treaty would have been signed, sealed, and delivered, assuming the Republicans could not round up 40 votes to filibuster the thing in the senate.

I dislike the concept of filibusters (they are essentially undemocratic) but there are times when they are a godsend, and this would have been one of them, because Gore would have sent this turkey to the senate the day Daschle picked up the gavel. I think there are enough RINOs in the senate that it would have passed, even with a bit of democratic opposition.

posted by scutum on May 7, 2002 05:31 PM

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