U.S. May Veto Bosnia Force in a Dispute Over New Court

New York Times ^ | 6/28/02 | SERGE SCHMEMANN

[kattracks]

NITED NATIONS, June 28 — The United States has refused to budge in its demand to exempt American peacekeepers from the jurisdiction of a new International Criminal Court, raising the possibility that the United Nations mandate for the international forces in Bosnia will expire at midnight Sunday.

The Security Council will meet again on Sunday evening in a last-ditch effort to find a resolution.

It is the first time in the memory of diplomats here that the United States has found itself in so bitter a showdown with two close allies, Britain and France, which have led the other governments in the 15-member Security Council in resisting the American demand. All three wield vetoes in the council, as do Russia and China.

After another round of negotiations behind closed doors, the American representative, James B. Cunningham, tersely declared, "We haven't resolved anything."

The immediate issue before the council is the renewal of the mandate of two international forces in Bosnia, which the United States has threatened to veto if American peacekeepers are not exempted from the international court. A police force entirely financed by the United Nations would cease to exist without an extension. A NATO peacekeeping force would continue to function — but an important member, Germany, serves only on the understanding that the peacekeeping operation is endorsed by the United Nations.

But both sides acknowledged that the dispute went beyond Bosnia to the Bush administration's opposition to the International Criminal Court, which comes into being on Monday. The administration declared in May that it would not be party to the court, contending that it represents a potential infringement on American sovereignty.

The dispute has led to an unusual level of anger between the United States and Britain and France. The Americans have refused any compromise.

"We want to find a solution and not to adopt halfway measures, and we are not seeking to exclude ourselves from cooperation with our partners overseas," Mr. Cunningham said.

[Travis McGee]

U.S. troops in Bosnia?

"See Ya!"

[JohnHuang2]

Wait a sec....I thought there was no difference between Gore and Bush? /sarcasm.

[Prodigal Son]

"Wouldn't wanna be ya!"

This is a good move. There isn't really any way he can lose. The worst that happens is the Europeans concede to our demands that US Peacekeepers be exempt from the International Court and we stay in Bosnia- So Win on one issue/Status Quo on the other. If they don't back down on the issue- We still won't be a part of the International Court and we won't be in Bosnia. Win/Win (or put in more vulgar terms- the Europeans don't even get the benefit of a 'reach-around')

Screw 'em. Funny, we're still at least offering the Palestinians the stick and the carrot. Dubya has just been showing a lot of the stick to the EU.

[spokeshave]

Euroweenies = checkers..........Dubbya = chess

[chiefqc]

United Nations minus United States of America = Nothing

[ffrancone]

Prodigal:

I agree; but I think the consequences in terms of relations with Germany, especially, will be dire.

I have a German business colleague, who visited me in the States last week. We had some discussion about whether my company should agree to dispute resolution in the Hague. I expressed concern about growing anti-americanism there.

Wolfgang said that the anti-americanism was almost all due to the US opposition to the ICC and was visibly upset by the discussion that followed (in which I criticized the ICC)--not typical behavior for him.

For some reason, the Europeans think this ICC is the greatest thing since sliced bread. It is not clear to me why that is the case. But they seem quite determined to ram this down our throats. I asked Wolfgang what should the US do when some left-wing prosecutor for the ICC indicts Henry Kissinger or GWB for "agression." I suggested to him that this would be a causi belli between the US and Europe--not a good thing.

He actually knew little about the functioning of the Court--he did not know that the prosecutor was appointed for 15 years and that there are no checks and balances on the prosecutor. Nor did he know that "agression" is a crime the prosecutor can pursue.

While he was somewhat taken aback by the new facts I gave him about the ICC, he was still very adamant about what a good thing it is.

It's my opinion that this one will be a serious flash point in US/Euro relations for many years to come.

[Prodigal Son]

While he was somewhat taken aback by the new facts I gave him about the ICC, he was still very adamant about what a good thing it is.

Yeah, well, that's typical on this side of the Atlantic isn't it? They haven't thought beyond tomorrow. They've got their new currency and their economy is eeking out fragile growth- France is burning up the charts with +1.4% growth to lead the EU right now. They've got Israel all sorted out as the agressor in the Middle East and they're going to buy a lot of green energy from Denmark's windmills at some point in the future. They've got all the answers and right now the answer du jour is "let's give up any scrap of sovereignty we might have left- oh and since we're the cultured ones here, the US and everybody else has to do it as well".

If they want to give up their sovereignty- let 'em have at it. They've got a pseudo democracy now, the people vote on their own individual little parliments which are increasingly impotent in the face of the EU Parliment. They've banned free speech if it's hateful, so their won't be anybody suffering from hate crimes any longer- oh and Sweden even banned reading certain passages from the Bible so now the homosexuals don't have to worry about those evil homophobes and practicers of bestiality won't feel bad either.

But Europe will never ever in their wildest nocturnal emissions be in a position to ram anything down the throat of a superior culture and even though the US is infested with a nest of socialist snakes right now, superior to Europe is exactly what the US is. So let 'em have their Kyoto protocols and their Elders of Zion Protocols and let 'em keep their Bosnias, Kosovos and Serbias. They've got their international court now and they can sort all those problems out themselves. And when some crazy like Saddam Hussein takes a notion to invade them they can use their incredibly effective European Military to repel the attack.

Europe, when they've got that little chicken chest poked out, at best it makes me snicker but they're lucky if they get a yawn.

And not all Europeans feel the way your colleague does. Their views just don't make it to the media. My wife is German and she feels very threatened by all these socialist pinheads. She's a doctor and works in NHS service in the UK and she gets to see first hand and up close on a daily basis how dangerous and ugly socialism is. She voted one time in her whole life for the SPD and after that she vowed never ever again.

[Dark Wing]

To European elites, nationalism is a threat.

To Americans, it is part of who we are. We are the most successful nation state on the face of the planet and competing nationalisms all but destroyed Europe.

There is no papering over that difference.

The ICC is the ultimate expression of European nationalist suppressing dreams. Thus, it is our nightmare.