April 12, 2002
From the desk of Mindles H. Dreck:Just call me Richie Rich
Now I know what it feels like to enjoy a perma-link from Instapundit. I'm looking forward to raking in the bucks from the hapless victims of my war crimes.
I also notice Glenn's link to this article. It concludes with a statement from Henry Hyde (R. - Telecom) that makes the International Criminal Court's problem clear. It only works to prosecute the innocent, or those with some sort of conscience or concern for the international community:
"The United States must begin now to implement policies to protect against the unintended consequences that will flow from establishment of the ICC," he (Hyde) said.
"The ICC is more likely to hinder than help efforts to prevent genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity," Mr. Hyde said, noting that "dictators with the blood of thousands on their hands will scoff at the threat."
This goes back to my Game Theory post - if the ICC has limited teeth, which is likely given its limited enforcement power and practical jurisdiction, the threat power of developed and democratic nations will be decreased, with no comparable decrease to that of thugocracies and terrorist nations. When and if military action becomes necessary, peacekeepers and agents of the ICC will be constrained while the cruelest war crimes perpetrators will not. A formula for...well..quagmire. Posted by Mindles H. Dreck at April 12, 2002 8:56 AM | Technorati inbound links