Article

2003-03-12 International

âIllegal warâ could mean soldiers face prosecution

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Posted by domingo 2003-03-12 01:42 pm|| || Front Page|| [6 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 Christ, this really smacks of socialism, where everybody gets dragged down to the lowest common denominator and our economic and military strength means squat, or mob rule with a simple majority dictating every issue. I don't like this at all!

Screw the ICC and screw the UN! I could understand NATO, the Warsaw Pact, OPEC, OAS, and other blocs. The UN is worthless and weak.

We need to do what is right, not what's popular.

Posted by Dar Steckelberg 2003-03-12 07:59:50|| 2003-03-12 07:59:50|| Front Page Top

#2 As of March 10, 2003, 89 countries have ratified the ICC - here's the list - the UK would be wise to rethink their participation in this sham

Posted by Frank G 2003-03-12 08:27:16|| 2003-03-12 08:27:16|| Front Page Top

#3 and what scary army would bring british soldiers or officers or politicians to trial?

Cameroon's? Chile's? France's??

China and Russia weren't dumb enough to sign up either so don't look to them.

Posted by g wiz 2003-03-12 08:46:53|| 2003-03-12 08:46:53|| Front Page Top

#4 G wiz,
The UK signed the treaty I would think that they would be under obligation to deliver any indicted defendant to the world court as long as they resided in UK controlled territory, citizen or not. Hence the idea or surrendering sovereignty to international law.

Posted by Domingo 2003-03-12 09:36:57|| 2003-03-12 09:36:57|| Front Page Top

#5 Ridiculous situation. Whatever Blair says in public now, he must be wishing we were out of UN and all the pointless junk that comes with it. A good outcome of this Iraq fiasco wil be that it has exposed many gaping flaws in the United Nations and its institutions which no one with a scintilla of wit can turn a blind eye to any more. Roll on the Organisation of Democratic States, HQ Baghdad.

Posted by Bulldog 2003-03-12 09:50:31|| 2003-03-12 09:50:31|| Front Page Top

#6 which no one with a scintilla of wit can turn a blind eye to any more
France ? Russia ? Germany ? UK Labor party members trying to force Tony's resignation ? Liberal Dems in the US ? Hopefully the electorate in these places do have a scintilla of wit.

Posted by Domingo 2003-03-12 10:11:05|| 2003-03-12 10:11:05|| Front Page Top

#7 Kofi is whistling out of his a$$ with his weak threat of legalities. Every nation that participated in the Gulf War 1 has every legal authority to resume hostilities. In fact, as Iraq has violated every provision of the cease fire he signed, we are already technically in a state of hositlities with Iraq.

Posted by Rex Mundi 2003-03-12 10:53:37|| 2003-03-12 10:53:37|| Front Page Top

#8 If a War Crime is suspected and the UK does a real trial into the evidence the iCC should have no jurisdiction, in theory. I suspect we'll see lots of Jenin massacres and claims of coverups as a way for little nations to throw mud at western troops.

Posted by Yank 2003-03-12 12:24:10|| 2003-03-12 12:24:10|| Front Page Top

#9 Jenin Massacre should be in quotes in the comment above, of course, since it wasn't a massacre but instead a bunch of bullocks created by Palestinians and journalists hoping to find evidence against Isreal.

Posted by Yank 2003-03-12 12:25:49|| 2003-03-12 12:25:49|| Front Page Top

#10 Bulldog: It was Robert Conquest who in his 1999 book, Reflections on a Ravaged Century, first put forth that the UK, the US and the ex-Dominions (less Quebec one would assume) should band together politically and economically. This was long before it became popular to speak of the Anglosphere on the Web. When I first read Conquest's proposal, I thought it absolute rubbish. After all, the EU and NAFTA were so successful. We were just becoming one big happy free market. The events of the past four years have made me realize that Conquest is absolutely right and I was utterly wrong. The Continentals and rest of the world share little in common with the Anglosphere. We need stick together to protect our common values.

Posted by 11A5S 2003-03-12 14:32:33|| 2003-03-12 14:32:33|| Front Page Top

#11 "Article 51 of the UN charter allows self-defence only if an armed attack occurs against a member state and, even then, only until the Security Council has taken action"

This is obviously nonsense. For starters, all NATO countries are bound by treaty to come to the defence of (that is, to go to war for) any one of them being attacked. If Germany was attacked by, say, France, Britain would come to Germany's aid, attacking France, even though Britain had not been attacked, and regardless of whether the UNSC liked it or not. Similar things are probably true with other such organizations (e.g., SEATO) - or what good would they be.

Posted by Patrick 2003-03-12 16:44:25|| 2003-03-12 16:44:25|| Front Page Top

#12 11A5S - Something similar already exists, but seems to act primarily as a forum for organising cricket matches - the British Commonwealth. It's a pretty patronising concept really (the Queen does tours and blesses zoos and premieres and stuff), but encompasses most of the anglosphere. Including the likes of Zimbabwe. I'm not sure if language should be the basic criterion for something as serious, but I'm having trouble thinking of some other benchmark that would automatically exclude the French!

Posted by Bulldog 2003-03-12 17:13:44|| 2003-03-12 17:13:44|| Front Page Top

#13 Any British squadie who finds him or herself under threat of prosecution in the UK ought to be whisked right into the USA as a political refugee. Give 'em the same asylum status we give to other foreign nationals.

Posted by JDB 2003-03-12 17:15:16|| 2003-03-12 17:15:16|| Front Page Top

06:32 raptor
05:02 Peter
00:43 Ben
00:13 Frank Martin
00:13 Steve White
00:01 The Marmot
23:55 g wiz
23:39 Anonymous
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22:34 Frank Martin
22:27 tu3031
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19:54 Tom