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| 5/17 |
| 2003/7/1 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq, Politics/Foreign/Europe] UID:28876 Activity:high |
6/30 It's only war crime when someone else is doing it...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/3035296.stm
\_ Perhaps because it is not in our nation's best interest to defer
to vague international bodies on this or any other matters? Also,
while you're chewing over that consider that the US has a real court
system, a culture that creates citizens opposed to any sort of war
crime (in fact, the US invented the concept), and given that any
body that lacks the power to enforce it's edicts is useless so is
the ICC. The US is the only thing that gives the UN or any other
similar entity any authority. If we withdrew and ignored all of
these pesky little socialist clubs they'd all collapse. I'm not
sure if you were trolling or you actually believe in all these
silly little multinational oddities but they do not and in fact
can not work as you might wish. There is no such thing as
'international law' outside the fantasies of certain anti-American
Europeans (France, Belgium, Germany) and the Blame America First
crowd in the US. -xyz
\_ Of course it's not in the purity temple's interest to submit to
foreign oversight. They're all terrorists. Probably have
weapons of mass detruction too. Let's nuke them, because any
nation that threatens another...
\_ If you had a real response instead of knee jerking I'd be
happy to discuss it with you. -xyz
\_ bye bye "isolationism" -- being sold with the same rationale1
bravo doublespeak miracles from the new reich!
\_ I'm not in favor of isolationism. Submitting to the will of
Eurocrats and the third world is not the only way to
participate in the world. -xyz
\_ Most countries' citizens are opposed to war crimes, except that
they tend to overlook the crimes when it's committed by their
own country. It is the same for US. That's why we need UN.
- fgh
\_ It is in our nation's best interest to work through international
bodies rather than act like a gung-ho cowboy. US is suffering
from classic overextension, and its strength is overrated.
Our military rules but it is resulting in huge budget deficit,
and putting a huge drag on our tired economy. States are
close to bankrupt, trade deficit is soaring, fed has no more
room to cut interest rate. US economy is supported by asian
nations buying US treasuries, stocks and US dollars. That should
not be something we should count on forever. - abc |
| 5/17 |
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| news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/3035296.stm State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said the protection of US citizens from the threat of being hauled before the new International Criminal Court (ICC) was a significant matter in relations with other countries. The US does not recognise the ICC, saying its forces could be subjected to politically-motivated prosecution. One country which is particularly affected in Colombia, which receives over $500m a year in US military assistance. The new court, based in The Hague in the Netherlands, can try individuals for war crimes committed after 1 July anywhere in the world. Washington has concluded bilateral agreements with more than 50 nations to secure exemption for US troops. Human Rights Watch has accused the US of bullying tactics in its efforts to conclude exemption deals. Balance Nato members and other key allies - such as Israel, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand - are exempt from any penalty if they refuse. In implementing the act, we'll need to balance our broader bilateral interests with substantial consideration to the risk posed to US citizens Richard Boucher State Department spokesman Others face cuts in military aid, under the American Service members Protection Act approved last year by the US Congress. However Mr Boucher said the US administration might waive the aid suspension for countries regarded as crucial to Washington's strategic interests. Drugs fight Colombia could be a case in point, since US support in the fight against the cocaine trade means it receives more funding than any other Latin American country. It has received almost all the aid allocated for 2003, but a halt to 2004 military funding would be crippling. State Department figures suggest that of the $575m requested by the Bush administration for next year, about $112m would be blocked. Colombia says that a 1962 agreement already provides immunity for the hundreds of US personnel training anti-narcotics squads in the country. But Mr Boucher said that treaty did not provide the exemption required by law. Balkans dilemma The BBC's Gabriel Partos says that the American demand for immunity from war-crimes prosecution has created a particular dilemma in the Balkans. South-east European countries welcome Washington's military aid, but are also under pressure from the EU - a strong backer of the ICC - not to conclude immunity deals. Bulgaria, which has not signed a deal, was told on Tuesday that half of its promised $20m in aid would be suspended. Bulgarian officials said that discussions on the issue were continuing, and did not rule out the eventual signing of a bilateral agreement. Croatia, another EU candidate state, has refused to sign such an agreement for the time being. Others, including Romania, Albania, and Bosnia-Hercegovina, have granted immunity to US forces. |