Protecting the Elite from the ICC. (Insider Report).In a review of Henry Kissinger's critique of the UN's International Criminal Court (ICC ICC See: International Chamber of Commerce ), THE NEW AMERICAN predicted that America's political Establishment would seek an arrangement with the ICC through which "well connected members of the Power Elite--such as Kissinger himself, for instance--might enjoy immunity from prosecution and imprisonment Imprisonment See also Isolation. Alcatraz Island former federal maximum security penitentiary, near San Francisco; “escapeproof.” [Am. Hist.: Flexner, 218] Altmark, the German prison ship in World War II. [Br. Hist. ." (See "Kissinger on the ICC" in our August 13, 2001 issue.) A high-ranking Bush administration official has admitted that this concern is a "principal motive" for its opposition to the ICC--even citing Kissinger as a specific example. "If you're Henry Kissinger and every time you to go this European country or that European country you have to worry if you're going to be served with a subpoena subpoena (səpē`nə) [Lat.,=under penalty], in law, an order to a witness to appear before a court. A subpoena ad testificandum [Lat. , it has an effect," Under Secretary of State John Bolton told the Associated Press Associated Press: see news agency. Associated Press (AP) Cooperative news agency, the oldest and largest in the U.S. and long the largest in the world. . In a November 14th speech to the Federalist Society The Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies, most frequently called simply the Federalist Society, began at Yale Law School, Harvard Law School, and the University of Chicago Law School in 1982 as a student organization that challenged what its members perceived , Bolton explained that although the Bush administration opposes the ICC in its present form, it supports "ad hoc For this purpose. Meaning "to this" in Latin, it refers to dealing with special situations as they occur rather than functions that are repeated on a regular basis. See ad hoc query and ad hoc mode. tribunals ... overseen by the UN Security Council [and] under a UN Charter to which virtually all nations have agreed." "Our principal concern [about the ICC] is for our country's top civilian and military leaders, those responsible for our defense and foreign policy," explained Bolton. "A fair reading of the [ICC] treaty leaves one unable to answer with confidence whether the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. would now be accused of war crimes for legitimate but controversial uses of force to protect world peace.... No U.S. presidents or their advisers could be assured that they would be unequivocally safe from politicized charges of criminal liability." The ICC, complained Bolton, is "part of an agenda to restrain American discretion." According to AP, Bolton "said it was a misconception that the United States wants to use these agreements to undermine the ICC," and insisted that the U.S. "wants to work with court members to find solutions to problems raised by the establishment of the ICC." Apparently, leaving ordinary U.S. citizens subject to the ICC's jurisdiction is not among the "problems" the Bush administration seeks to resolve. |
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