When Pres. Bush rejected the treaty establishing and granting jurisdiction to the International Criminal Court, he explicitly noted that the Court could easily be used as a tool for an anti-American agenda because it would purport to exercise jurisdiction over American soldiers and diplomats. He was right.
Today, under the reprehensible theory of universal justice, two grandstanding jurists from erstwhile allies have issued warrants for Americans acting in American interests in the war on terror: a Spanish judge issuing arrest warrants against three American soldiers for "murder" in the accidental death of a Spanish cameraman in Iraq; and an Italian judge issuing warrants for 13 CIA agents relating to the alleged abduction of a terrorist from Italy and taking him to Egypt. The US should state in no uncertain terms that the consequences for European countries (and any others) who attempt to exercise jurisdiction over American diplomats, soldiers and agents will be most severe.
The Investors Business Daily editorial linked in the title notes the differences between Euro-justice and Iraqi justice -- who gets charged with crimes, the length of time it takes to adjudicate a dictator and the efficacy of the punishment. My vote favors the Iraqis.
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