Reading this story in the Guardian " Iraqis lose right to sue troops over war crimes," reminded me of this New York Times story from 2002, "On World Court, U.S. Focus Shifts to Shielding Officials.
The Bush administration's opposition to the International Criminal Court, it was revealed, had less to do with protecting troops on the ground, and more to do with maintaining the immunity of key political and military leaders.
Christopher Hitchens' damning Harper's articles had come out, and Eugene Jarecki's polemically dot-connecting documentary, The Trials of Henry Kissinger, made it feel that The Four Season's favorite alleged war criminal was, personally, the dealbreaker.
But as I re-read that Times article today, the "senior official"'s words get under my skin: "Henry Kissinger, that's what they really care about," he said. And then, in a My Lai massare reference that can't be too welcome now, he hinted any Kissingerian particulars, well, those were in the past. "They don't really care about the Lieutenant Calleys of the future," he said. No, ""The soldiers are like the capillaries; the top public officials ó President Bush, Secretary Rumsfeld, Secretary Powell ó they are at the heart of our concern."
