Posted on 03/18/2007 11:05:43 AM PDT by West Coast Conservative
TONY Blair could face the prospect of an International Criminal Court investigation for alleged coalition war crimes in Iraq.
The court's chief prosecutor said at the weekend that he would be willing to launch an inquiry and could envisage a scenario in which the British Prime Minister and US President George Bush could one day face charges at The Hague.
Luis Moreno-Ocampo urged Arab countries, particularly Iraq, to sign up to the court to enable allegations against the West to be pursued. Iraq's ambassador to the United Nations said that his country was actively considering signing up.
The US has refused to accept the court's jurisdiction and is unlikely to hand over any of its citizens to face trial. However, Britain has signed up and the Government has indicated its willingness to tackle accusations of war crimes against a number of British soldiers.
Mr Moreno-Ocampo said it was frustrating that the court was viewed in the Arab world as biased in favour of the West.
Asked whether he could envisage a situation in which Mr Blair and Mr Bush found themselves in the dock answering charges of war crimes in Iraq, he replied: "Of course, that could be a possibility … whatever country joins the court can know that whoever commits a crime in their country could be prosecuted by me."
Human rights lawyers remain sceptical about whether charges will ever be brought.
Some Muslim countries have criticised what they claim is the court's reluctance to deal with offences committed by Western governments. Sudan has called for the court to investigate coalition actions in Iraq.
So shall we simply quit wasting out time and bomb them now or wait for it?
Now STFU!
Nuke 'em.
Wonder if this journalist is related to Neville? (end/sarcasm)
Tell the buttwipes in the International Criminal Court to get a life and go somewhere in a corner and Buzz off.
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WTH? Or was the ambassador's words taken out of context?
And then US conservatives started supporting the impeachment of the president following a "for other reasons but it doesn't matter why...just get him out of there" line of logic.
IF that ends up happening here, I honestly can imagine Blair and Bush being sacrificed to the UN gods. These are treacherous times. We've got to be VERY careful what we wish for.
I think there is often a feeling around this place that if the American public could just stand at the edge of the precipice and see how deep the canyon is...they would run away from that precipice as quickly as possible. What that theory discounts is a the huge mob behind us pushing towards the precipice and the nearly unstoppable momentum that creates. The closer we get to that edge, the less time we have to convince that mob to quit pushing, or at least find safe passageway back through it. We need all the time we can get.
The bottom line is this is a dangerous foolhardy game conservatives are playing. Thinking through the consequences is essential. We won't like what we see when we are pushed over the edge and have no hope of return.
I have criticised what I claim is the court's reluctance to deal with offences committed by Islamist governments. I have called for the court to investigate Sudan's actions in Darfur.
Why aren't they investigating the insurgents for possible war crimes - targeting civilians, dressing in police uniforms, setting consecutively timed bombs to kill responders to an initial attack, etc?
...snicker...heady bastards, the ICC.....aren't they?
Unfortunately, you are completely correct. And then there will be NO country in the world to fight evil. None. If our own president can be taken to an international court then no one in this country will EVER agree to another foreign intervention for any reason. Evil will reign supreme and the vacuum created by lack of American intervention will be filled by terrorists and worse.
I'd like to see an investigation into who murdered Slobodan Milosevic.
Yep. You don't sacrifice your own team. Ever.
Sometimes, I think we stand so close to individual problems we miss the big picture. If we keep doing that, we're in real trouble.
Not the probe!
Overlooking my general feelings about the U.N.
No one is alleging war crime during the invasion itself. They are talking things that happened during the occupation,
This would set some kind of record to even bring charges given:
1. The U.S. has shown willingness (and in some cases to much enthusiasm) to prosecute rights violations
2. The U.N. has given us mandate to occupy and rebuild, a position that has been endorsed repeatedly by the Iraqi government.
>>
Last Updated: Tuesday, 8 November 2005, 19:03 GMT
UN extends mandate of Iraq troops
Iraq's president wants coalition forces to stay for now
The United Nations has extended the mandate of the US-led multinational forces in Iraq for another year.
The UN Security Council voted unanimously to extend the mandate to the end of 2006.
The US welcomed the vote as a sign of international commitment to the political transition in Iraq. <<
This article is from the BBC, not exactly a publication filled with pro-U.S. bias.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4419222.stm
So I guess Mr Moron-Ocampo will guarantee that the Western infidels will be found guilty in the spirit of fairness and to balance out the perceived bias?
It's a good thing we never signed onto the ICC.
"Iraq's ambassador to the United Nations said that his country was actively considering signing up."
A poorly worded sentence. It implies that Iraq was signing up to press charges against the President. More likely Iraq is just trying to sign up to the "court" and nothing else.
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