Posted on 11/28/2009 6:00:26 AM PST by Prospero
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton expressed "great regret" in August that the U.S. is not a signatory to the International Criminal Court (ICC). This has fueled speculation that the Obama administration may reverse another Bush policy and sign up for what could lead to the trial of Americans for war crimes in The Hague.
The ICC's chief prosecutor, though, has no intention of waiting for Washington to submit to the court's authority. Luis Moreno Ocampo says he already has jurisdictionat least with respect to Afghanistan.
Because Kabul in 2003 ratified the Rome Statutethe ICC's founding treatyall soldiers on Afghan territory, even those from nontreaty countries, fall under the ICC's oversight, Mr. Ocampo told me. And the chief prosecutor says he is already conducting a "preliminary examination" into whether NATO troops, including American soldiers, fighting the Taliban may have to be put in the dock.
"We have to check if crimes against humanity, war crimes or genocide have been committed in Afghanistan," Mr. Ocampo told me. "There are serious allegations against the Taliban and al Qaeda and serious allegations about warlords, even against some who are connected with members of the government." Taking up his inquiry of Allied soldiers, he added, "there are different reports about problems with bombings and there are also allegations about torture."
It was clear who the targets of these particular inquiries are but the chief prosecutor shied away from spelling it out.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
The ICC is one of those BS global bodies that won’t go after REAL criminals, only Westerners who have committed imaginary crimes against the Third World.
Dear Mister Ocampo—you and what army?
Bring the troops home. I don’t trust them in the hands of our Dear Leader, who will certainly sell some of them down the river to the ICC.
Impeachment.
One troop turned over to the ICC for prosecution should be final cause for every good American to exit this army,legally but reapidly, at the earliest opportunity, as it will demonstrate they have been impressed into serving a global authority, not the people and Constitution of the United States.
No one swears an oath of enlistment to the UN or the ICC.
I agree. Our troops need not be part of the international socialist agenda. Bring them home now. Let the World court decide how to prosecute the terrorists, not the good guys fighting them.
That might very well be the ONLY reason he is sending more troops to Afghanistan.
We dont need to belong to the Hague, we prosecute our own Seals.
This country is going to hell in a handbasket.
I hate to say this but maybe it’s a good thing the Army won’t take my youngest son. I’d hate for him to be prosecuted for serving his country.
Now all I have to do is hope my oldest boy who is in, doesn’t do anything “wrong”.
THe USA needs to seriously DOWNGRADE relations with Western Europe. Get us out of NATO and replace it with a few bilateral security agreements.
Europe is on its way down, and I fear they will take the USA with it.
CW2 Ping
Nice thought, but we'll have to wait a little while. After the November elections of 2010, I have a hunch the House will look a lot different.
Let the extortion begin.
The result will be the establishment of a People’s Court that will try Hillary, Obama et al for crimes against the republic.
Ex-Marine John Murtha will set on the panel of judges of this worthless group.
choose sides. I choose our guys.
Even the Obama one-world zealots can't be stupid enough to think that millions of Americas will sit by quietly as our soldiers are shipped off the The Hague to face show trial for political crimes. My advice to the people of the Neatherlands would be to recall all diplomatic personal before attempting such a stunt. Should you decide to put our soldiers on trial for any reason in your country, it would be like painting a giant "Kick Me" sign on your embassy.
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