There are a few items of interest in the news today that we’d suggest taking a look at.
First up, former UN Ambassador John Bolton takes a look at “universal jurisdiction” and the way it is being used/abused by human rights activists to bring charges against legitimate actions by freely elected governments.
It is no accident that arrest warrants never seem to be issued for the likes of Kim Jong Il or Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, since the real targets of universal jurisdiction these days are Western nations. Ultimately, what it targets is the very ideas of sovereign accountability and political independence. These goals largely motivated the 1998 Rome Statute that created the International Criminal Court, itself a step toward constraining states’ abilities to police their own affairs, and an institution that the Obama administration yearns to join.
Transferring accountability for decisions from democratic politics to the criminal justice system understandably intimidates policy makers from making perfectly justifiable choices, such as defending against terrorist threats. Moreover, “command responsibility” has been transmogrified from liability for failing to stop known criminal activity, to liability when officials “should have known” their subordinates were committing crimes.
As long as we’re on the subject of international justice, it looks like the plan to move terrorists currently detained at Guantanamo Bay to a nearly empty prison in Illinois could face opposition from both the left and the right.
It appeared Tuesday that the transfer plan would be rejected by Republicans, even those who have favored closing Guantanamo, such as Sens. John McCain of Arizona and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) called the proposed facility “Gitmo North.”
Some Democratic senators, such as Ben Nelson of Nebraska, have expressed unease with housing terrorism suspects within the continental U.S. — meaning the support of Republicans such as McCain and Graham could be key to getting the law changed.
Finally, John Fund takes a peek at the high stakes negotiations taking place around the massive health care reform bill.
Senator Reid and the Obama administration will do all they can to lock up Senator Nelson’s vote. White House Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer says the stakes are enormous, telling reporters bluntly that the White House sees no “second chance” if a bill doesn’t pass before Christmas. “Congress won’t come back to health care next year: It will be all jobs,” he said. “The next president will not stake political capital on this. If Clinton and Obama can’t get it done, no one else will try.”
