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May 12, 2006
You Might Be a War Criminal
Michael Rubin, editor of The Middle East Quarterly and a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, had a narrow call during a recent trip to Iceland — a local activist demanded that he be arrested as a war criminal.
The main justification for this charge was that Rubin advocated the liberation of Iraq from Saddam Hussein. For this he was seen to have indirectly caused the war. Rubin was also accused of being "a Jew and a big supporter of Israel."
Fortunately Rubin was not thrown in jail for these crimes. The story sounds like a typical example of moonbats making fools of themselves. But Rubin sees in it more evidence that extremists wanting their opponents jailed for "war crimes" is becoming a trend. The International Criminal Court — if we were foolish enough to join it — would be an even better opportunity than the U.N. for spiteful Lilliputians from second-rate countries to use such charges to bite America's ankles.
It isn't just bongo-drumming activists with twigs in their hair who are nutty enough to denounce anyone in agreement with U.S. policy as a war criminal. A few examples:
- Finnish President Tarja Halonen has declared the war in Iraq to be illegal.
- About 6 months after 9/11, Austria, Belgium, France, Portugal, Spain, and Sweden endorsed a U.N. Human Rights Commission resolution that grants suicide bombing the status of a legitimate form of resistance.
- A WaPo columnist suggested that Berkeley law school professor and former Justice Department official John Yoo be thrown in jail if he ventures into a militantly politically correct country such as Spain, on the grounds that some don't agree with his views on interrogation techniques.
- Canadian soldiers were menaced with International Criminal Court war crimes charges for turning captured terrorists over to the local Afghan government.
Condoleezza Rice is said to favor softening our position on joining the ICC. As Rubin notes, she might want to rethink this, or "her retirement could be in an Icelandic prison."
Posted by Van Helsing at May 12, 2006 6:54 AM
Comments
Whtachoo talkin about?
That's Mrs. Doubtfire, right?
Posted by: Doug at May 13, 2006 12:20 AM
No. Conan O'Brian.
Posted by: prince of leaves at May 13, 2006 12:46 AM
