The Duc Pond

I forgot to post this earlier. The White House web site has a section called “Ask the White House” where featured guests answer questions from the public. Sean McCormack, Special Assistant to the President and Deputy Press Secretary for Foreign Affairs, answered a simple question I submitted. I got a simple response.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/ask/20040811-2.html

Third one down is mine.

Update 8/30/06: I’ve copied it below since the Bush Administration website won’t be around forever.

Ducson, from New Jersey writes:
Don’t you think some American credibility would be restored worldwide if we joined the International Criminal Court? The requirements for prosecution by the ICC are pretty strict (the nation with jurisdiction must be doing nothing and the crime has to be fairly severe). I think using the ICC for political purposes would be pretty rare. A small price to pay for a show of international cooperation wouldn’t you say?

Sean McCormack
The President decided that the joining the ICC would put our troops and officials at risk of politically-motivated prosecutions. We believe that each should be held responsible for holding to account individuals responsible for violating the law. Where countries are not able to do so, we believe individual international tribunals can be formed to hold individuals to account, just as is now being done in the Hague with Slobodan Milosevic.

We are now working with countries around the world to sign Article 98 agreements, which are allowed under the Rome Statute. We believe this solution will provide needed protections for our personnel while respecting other countries desire to join the ICC.