Stop Making Sense (ICC Edition)

This is interesting. At Commentary Magazine's blog "Contentions," Max Boot argues that it's time for conservatives to make their peace with the International Criminal Court - which, he suggests, has actually been a pretty good thing:

Conservatives love to hate the International Criminal Court. Elaborate scenarios have been conjured up about how it could be politicized and turned into an instrument of anti-American animus. Fears have been raised that Henry Kissinger or Donald Rumsfeld could soon find himself in the dock. John Bolton spent an inordinate amount of time and energy when he was Undersecretary of State trying to coerce American allies into signing treaties pledging they would never send Americans for prosecution to the Hague.

So far such alarmism has proven groundless. The ICC seems to be doing exactly what it ought to be doing—trying to hold real war criminals accountable for their actions in places where the local legal system does not function effectively.

Boot points out that the court has been proving useful in prosecuting perpetrators of the Darfur genocide - and he regrets that the Bush administration wasn't willing to send Saddam Hussein to the ICC for what would have been a far more legitimate trial. While "this was a missed opportunity," Boot argues that

[I]n the future, American officials, whether Republican or Democrat, should put aside their qualms and make use of the ICC wherever possible to promote the international rule of law, a longstanding American cause.

I'll admit I haven't followed Boot's work very closely. The only other time I've cited him he was making equally level-headed points about the need for conservatives to honestly assess the evidence for climate change. Should we worry that somebody is going to revoke his VRWC credentials?

Labels: conservatives, Contentions, ICC, Max Boot

  ¶ Posted by Paul Curtis 11:22 AM