The dynamics of this are adding up to a crisis. We lack nine votes to get a waiver for our troops. Meanwhile we turn the administration of Iraq over to the administrator of the war crimes tribunal. While we are there under the UN admistration our troops are supervised by the same administration that can charge them and their superiors with war crimes. Does these moves make sense? Not in my book.
While we are there under the UN admistration our troops are supervised by the same administration that can charge them and their superiors with war crimes.
Charging and enforcing are totally different animals. Who is going to do it? The UN without the USA lol?
Uh, we're not there under the UN. The UN will have nothing to do in Iraq except set up the elections. As of 6/30 Iraq is a soverign nation and I imagine we will have a bi-lateral agreement with the Iraqi government giving us immunity. We will only go into countries who have signed a bi-lateral agreement.
This means no more logistical support for UN missions, no more sending peacekeepers. I expect a pull-out in Kosovo within days after this thing is passed. Anyone know of any other UN missions we are on? Haiti? I don't think that one is a problem since we're leaving anyway as the peacekeeping troops arrive from other countries.
If the immunity doesn't occur, it creates a fascinating scenario which I'd be interested to see. UN war crimes court brings charges against some army general and some some fool of a president (not GW, but a democrat) authorizes his arrest and turn-over to a UN commission. The military escort arrives to find 1000 army personnel surrounding the general and prepared to deny them the general. At that point, presidential authority no longer exists...and we can watch a massive melt-down in DC in a matter of just a week or two. Having retired from the military after 20 years...I can vouch that almost 99 percent of the whole force will take no directives or orders from a UN commission. And any president who caves in...will find himself with no respect or authority to command.
The simpliest answer here...is to halt all UN miltary support period if immunity is not granted. It would take less than 24 hours for all of our personnel to pack up and move out of UN ops. I would make Kosovo and Bosnia the first places to evac our troops out, and watch the locals go back into a regional civil war. And I would not step in unless the UN granted a 20-year immunity deal. I would even air the UN vote, live on all channels to the US...to show how they all had to back down in order to get the "evil" US to help them stop a civil war.