#507 - International Arrogance, Part I

The Bush administration has refused to send to the U.S. Senate for ratification the treaty that created the International Criminal Court – a body which uses international law to try individuals charged with genocide, war crimes, and other widespread crimes against civilians.

President Clinton signed the treaty in his final month in office, but it must be ratified before the United States is considered a signatory. The treaty has been signed by 137 countries and ratified by 90, enough to allow the Court to come into existence in July 2002 at the Hague. Other non-signatories include China, India, Pakistan, Indonesia, Iraq and Turkey.

The Bush administration fears that the Court could someday indict American soldiers for human rights abuses, and has all but forced 37 developing countries to sign agreements prohibiting American citizens from being tried before the Court.

This represents an extreme dereliction of duty by the world’s only superpower, the ultimate in international arrogance. The Bush administration would rather have the perpetuators of war crimes go free than face the possibility that American soldiers who commit abuses could be indicted by the international community.

No doubt Bush believes that American soldiers would not commit human rights violations. But there are some survivors in a village called My Lai who would beg to differ. Perhaps if the American soldiers who slaughtered civilians in My Lai had known they could be indicted for their actions, they might not have shot so indiscriminately. And if policy-makers could have been indicted, they may not have left such unfit soldiers in the field.

Thanks to Bush, we won't have the possibility of indictment as deterrent in the future. So much for world leadership.