Israel Matzav

Israel is the canary in the coal mine, but the US is at the shaft entrance

One of the things that was suggested by the Goldstone Commission report (574-page pdf) that was issued on Tuesday was that Israel be referred to the International Criminal Court unless it conducts investigations and provides scalps to the UN Security Council within six months. That recommendation has implications that go far beyond Israel. Brett Joshpe discusses some of those implications, especially in light of the Obama administration's decision to conduct new investigations of the conduct of CIA interrogators during the years after 9/11.

[The fact that the International Criminal Court's prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, is contemplating whether the ICC has jurisdiction to investigate and potentially prosecute Israelis for alleged acts committed in Gaza during Operation Cast Lead] is troubling not just because an international tribunal is targeting the US's closest ally for waging a legitimate war of self-defense against terrorism. An overreaching ICC also has important implications for US officials. For one, the CIA issue could appear before the ICC at some point as well, despite the fact that the US - like Israel - is not currently a signatory to the court. Ocampo just announced that he was looking into possible war crimes committed by NATO soldiers, including Americans, in Afghanistan, which could foreshadow an investigation into other alleged "crimes" committed by US personnel.

WITH AN internationalist mentality that dominates his administration, President Barack Obama seems incapable of standing up either to far-left domestic or international pressure. Despite his pledge to "look forward" after the Bush administration, he is now squarely embroiled in the dirtiest kind of political fight, the kind that could lead to criminal charges. Furthermore, investigating CIA interrogations will undoubtedly chill future intelligence probing and hamper America's ability to collect information on possible terrorist plots.

Which is why, legally, the implications for the administration's recent decision to launch an investigation could be even greater than first realized. An American prosecutor should recognize the political radioactivity of pursuing Bush administration or CIA officials for trying to extract information from suspected terrorists. Americans, by and large, will not support it, and there will be a political price to pay. That is why it may easier to punt the issue to the ICC. Doing so would enable the Obama administration to disclaim responsibility for the decision, hence washing its hands partially of the investigation it started.

It would also serve as a huge concession to the far-left, which has sought ICC accession since the court's creation in 2002. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has already expressed "great regret" that the US is not a signatory to the court. State Department legal adviser Harold Koh, also known for his internationalist views, criticized the Bush administration for "attacks on... the International Criminal Court," while also acknowledging that "the US government has long expressed concern about the authority of the ICC prosecutor to initiate investigations of US soldiers and government officials stationed around the world."

Read the whole thing.

Israel is only the first target of the world jihad. And the Obama administration can be classified as what the Communists would have called 'useful idiots' when it comes to dealing with the jihad.

What could go wrong?

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 8:51 AM