December 11, 2005
ICC a Bad Idea
Peter A. Brown, writing for the Orlando Sentinel:
A Spanish judge's effort to extradite three American soldiers in connection with the deaths of two journalists in the Iraq war is worth noting -- and not because the United States is likely to turn over the three men involved in a 2003 firefight in which two journalists, one a Spaniard, were mistakenly killed.
It is important because it illustrates the wisdom of the U.S. decision not to join the International Criminal Court.
We should remember this when, as surely as the sun rises in the east, the 2008 presidential campaign will see the ICC issue resurrected by those who think the United States needs to repair its global image by trading on our sovereignty.
Obviously, countering the view around the globe that the United States does what it pleases regardless of the consequences would be a good thing. And, historically the United States has supported the idea of post-war panels to discipline those who commit genocide.
But a full-time world court is another matter. Especially when it requires that American troops doing their job during wartime be subjected to the whims of those who don't share U.S. views and values.
Read the whole thing.
h/t: GD
Show Comments »
I've written about the ICC before and why it is such a bad idea. Russia, China, India, Indonesia, and Japan have refused to sign on to the ICC, but somehow we're the villians if we don't surrender our sovreignity and our constitutional gaurantees to a poorly defined international court that has no checks and balances against abuse.
Posted by: DCE at December 11, 2005 12:45 PMIt amazes me how the US is always the bad guy, even when others are doing (or not doing) the same thing we are (or aren't).
Posted by: Pam at December 11, 2005 01:05 PM
