quote:
Originally posted by Jack, the Little Death:
The war-crimes tribunal thing is a tricky one. On the one hand, it seems like a good idea to have some basic playground rules, even if (or perhaps especially if) they inevitably give an advantage to the guys that can afford to play by those rules (the cost-effectiveness of biological weapons versus nuclear weapons is pretty crazy -- biologicals are about 400 times as effective, dollars to deaths).

On the other hand, I'm not really crazy about the idea of Americans being subject to any laws that were not arrived at via a democratic process that they aren't represented in.

It's like globalization. I'm in favor of the philosophy, but the practice has so far really sucked for the little guy (and pretty much everybody is a little guy on this scale). And so when the WTO comes along and tells us Americans that we have to change our own laws -- laws that were determined by democratically elected representatives of the people -- I feel morally obligated to protest. It's a loss on two fronts.

The war-crimes tribunal seems like a loss on one front. I'm still not decided on how the other front is going. My instinct tells me that it might be a win, so I just don't know.
Three things:

1. Americans are subject to all sorts of things that they had no democratic say in, so what's the big deal with a war crimes tribunal that would only affect their soldiers' behaviour on a battlefield?

2. The US is already a party to the Geneva Conventions on War. This just enforces its breach. My way of thinking is that either you join into the spirit of the thing, and be prepared to face its teeth, or don't bother.

3.Also, on that point, its a fairly fundamental rule of law, to not do anything war crime-ish or genocidal in combat. Its not like its asking soldiers not to litter or double park.

Funny that you are opposed to the WTO, since it opens up incredible markets to the world's largest exporter. I'm sitting on the door step of 1.2 billion people: all of them want Nike shoes, Mickey Mouse pillow cases, and Visacards, and you're complaining?