Posted on 05/19/2004 6:41:00 AM PDT by JesseHousman
The International Criminal Court (ICC), which had receded into the shadows over the past few years, may soon be back in the limelight, propelled by sensational stories and photos indicating that some U.S. military personnel and civilian contractors grossly abused prisoners at Iraq’s Abu Ghraib prison. This is certain to fuel a campaign to bring international war crimes charges against U.S. citizens serving in Iraq. This, in turn, will reignite a full-scale campaign to empower the new ICC, which was launched at the UN’s 1998 Rome Conference on the Establishment of an International Criminal Court. One of the principal non-governmental organizations leading the noisy and influential NGO contingent at the Rome summit was Amnesty International.
In a May 7 open letter to U.S. President George W. Bush, Amnesty International said that abuses allegedly committed by U.S. agents in the Abu Ghraib facility in Baghdad were war crimes, and the organization called on the administration to fully investigate them "to ensure that there is no impunity for anyone found responsible regardless of position or rank."
Following orders? Why did American soldiers commit abuses at Abu Ghraib and record their crimes on film? For "psy-op reasons," according to Private Lynndie England, who insists that she was following orders from "persons in my higher chain of command." Release of the photos has damaged our military’s reputation, and the scandal may enhance the supposed credibility of the UN’s ICC. (Source: Newscom)
Amnesty International said that it has documented a pattern of abuse by U.S. agents against detainees, including in Iraq and Afghanistan, stretching back over the past two years. Those responsible for these crimes, it said, "should be brought to justice in accordance with the USA’s obligations under international and US law. Investigations should cover the higher chain of command responsibility as well as direct perpetrators."
Just comb the 201 files of mil pers and weed out those whose IQ's barely approach room temperature.
ICC?
ABSOLUTELY NO!!!!
We'll take care of our own, thank-you. We will not be treated like some dirty backwater collection of machety weilding criminals.
And you KNOW thats how it will be...US vs the rest of the world. Constantly and only.
ICC for American soldiers my ass.
PROOF that we should not sign this treaty!
What part of NO don't they understand ?
INTREP
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