Bob Petrovich

HANGING BY A THREAD
or: "Give me liberty..." revisited
Washington Post reported on January 21: "...noting that no other country would comply with the U.N. demands if such an exception were made."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A24348-2001Jan20.html

Kostunica, constitutional lawyer who translated "The Federalist Papers" into Serbian, has a tough decision to make.

Decision will impact other countries, including U.S. that can not be bullied as easily as nearly-bankrupt Yugoslavia.

U.S. defended the World from bullies in WWII and won.
U.S. defended Europe from bullies 1945-89 and won.
U.S. should defend itself from the new bully today.
Before the bullies win.

Helping Kostunica would be the first step.

Former President Clinton stated upon authorizing U.S. signing of the 1998 Rome Treaty on the ICC:

``In signing, however, we are not abandoning our concerns about significant flaws in the Treaty...Given these concerns, I will not, and do not recommend that my successor, submit the Treaty to the Senate for advice and consent until our fundamental concerns are satisfied.''
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/htx/ap/20001231/pl/clinton_un_tribunal_text_2.html

What the "signifficant flaws" and "concerns" may be:

Quote:"In deciding whether to initiate an investigation, the Prosecutor shall consider whether:

(c) Taking into account the gravity of the crime and the interests of victims, there are nonetheless substantial reasons TO BELIEVE THAT AN INVESTIGATION WOULD NOT SERVE THE INTERESTS OF JUSTICE
[emphasis BP]

If the Prosecutor determines that there is no reasonable basis to proceed and his or her determination is based solely on subparagraph(c) above, he or she shall inform the Pre-Trial Chamber." <end quote> Part 5, Article 53 http://www.un.org/law/icc/statute/romefra.htm