Æ° Posted July 4, 2003 Share Posted July 4, 2003 This one is from the washington post. There are others you can find also. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/artic...-2003Jun30.html By Peter Slevin Washington Post Staff Writer Tuesday, July 1, 2003; Page A14 The Bush administration, intent on exempting U.S. citizens from prosecution by the International Criminal Court, is drawing fresh accusations of diplomatic heavy-handedness by threatening to cut off military aid to dozens of allies that refuse to sign immunity deals with the United States. A deadline for cooperation expired at midnight Monday, freezing money not yet spent this year by about 35 countries and putting the countries on notice that they could be denied millions for military equipment and training programs in the next budget year if they do not comply with U.S. wishes. President Bush and his aides are reviewing projects in a number of countries for waivers that could be announced soon. Other nations, including the NATO allies, receive automatic exemptions. But a fierce struggle is underway -- with the United States facing off against much of Europe -- that has led to bad feelings and leaves some small countries feeling squeezed. It hardly seems fair, a Lithuanian government official said, to face an aid cutoff over the international court issue despite "standing along with the United States in your fight against terrorism and sending troops to Afghanistan and Iraq." Lithuania is one of seven countries expected to join NATO next year and needs U.S. funding to upgrade its military. Croatia has a more complex problem, a diplomat said yesterday. U.S. authorities for years have been pressing the Zagreb government to surrender Croatians for war crimes prosecutions at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague. The issue is politically divisive in a country where certain active political groups believe the matter should be settled at home. At the same time, the Bush administration is demanding a written promise -- known as an Article 98 agreement -- from Croatia that no Americans charged in the future with war crimes or other grave offenses would be extradited to the new International Criminal Court. The Croatian government, which has sent suspects to The Hague, is mindful of elections at the end of the year. "Signing Article 98 would strengthen these forces and undermine the credibility of the government to cooperate with The Hague," said Ivan Grdesic, Croatia's ambassador to the United States. "If we sign this Article 98, we will in the eyes and minds of the Croatian voters be acting on double standards." The Bush administration withdrew its signature last year from the treaty that created the court -- ratified by more than 90 countries -- and embarked on a vast diplomatic campaign to persuade nearly 180 countries to sign the immunity pledges. U.S. officials argued that Americans need protection from politically motivated prosecutions at the court, which opened for business July 1, 2002. To press its point, the Bush administration threatened to shut down U.N. peacekeeping missions worldwide until the United Nations provided immunity to Americans. The Security Council granted the demand, then extended it for another year June 12. Secretary General Kofi Annan criticized the resolution. France, Germany and Syria abstained, contending that the exemption weakens the court. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said yesterday that the immunity agreements "will be a significant and pressing matter in our relations with every state." As for the countries that have not signed agreements and receive U.S. military aid, Boucher said, officials will evaluate programs and decide whether they are "sufficiently important to our interests" for Bush to grant a waiver. The immediate effect of the midnight deadline is limited. The budget year is only three months from completion, and most money has been spent. A State Department spokesman said $63.9 million in financing for military equipment remains unused by 35 countries that have not signed the agreement and do not have an automatic waiver. An additional $613,000 in education and training money is unspent. Countries exempted from the punishment ordered by Congress include the 18 other NATO members, Israel, Egypt, Australia, New Zealand, South Korea and Japan. Administration officials have said privately that other waivers will not come easily. One reason is that governments that took political flak for signing the deals oppose granting the same benefits to others for doing nothing. "You don't want to give a free ride to people who don't want to sign," a senior U.S. official said. "You want to keep the incentive and the pressure up, and you want to make sure that those who did take some heat for signing get a better deal from us than those who didn't." But with barely 50 countries acceding to the U.S. request despite the large-scale diplomatic campaign, the administration is putting out the message that negotiations will continue. "Our embassies and negotiating teams stand ready to work with interested governments," Boucher said. "We're applying the law," said Lincoln P. Bloomfield Jr., assistant secretary of state for political-military affairs, "but we're doing it in a way that continues the conversation." © 2003 The Washington Post Company Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RumPuncher Posted July 4, 2003 Share Posted July 4, 2003 such bullshit. They want to police the world but refuse to the the real internation courts into their own affaires. Such bullshit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unconscience Posted July 4, 2003 Share Posted July 4, 2003 Originally posted by Kilo7- such bullshit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tyler Durden Posted July 4, 2003 Share Posted July 4, 2003 USA! USA! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T.T Boy Posted July 4, 2003 Share Posted July 4, 2003 Originally posted by Kilo7- such bullshit. They want to police the world but refuse to the the real internation courts into their own affaires. Such bullshit. how bad do i want to be a president so i can tell bush publicly to fuck off. really bad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seven.13 Posted July 4, 2003 Share Posted July 4, 2003 Happy Fourth! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
metallix Posted July 4, 2003 Share Posted July 4, 2003 http://www.hazardedizioni.it/immagini/adolf.jpeg'> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Æ° Posted July 5, 2003 Author Share Posted July 5, 2003 Bumpity bap bap fap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest BROWNer Posted July 5, 2003 Share Posted July 5, 2003 yep. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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