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Military under the International Criminal Court?

hypocritexposer

Well-known member
Will “Lawyer-in-Chief” Obama’s “Somali sign off” put America’s military under the International Criminal Court?

04/20/2009

By Kevin “Coach” Collins

The opportunity to politicize the rescue of Captain Phillips from Somali pirates was one Barack Obama could not resist.
Obama’s handlers played the crisis for every ounce of P.R. they could generate. We heard a “quietly confident Obama” twice “gave the order to shoot if necessary.”
Yet when Phillips first jumped from the lifeboat he was being held in, nothing happened. No one saved him, and the pirates merely scooped him up and returned him to their “ship.” Our Navy Seals were on the scene ready to act, yet at first they did nothing.

Why the Seal commander didn’t act is THE important question of the whole affair.

Was it because the Commander- in -Chief was playing the “Lawyer- in- Chief?”
The truth seems to be Obama dithered and consulted lawyers before he acted so “decisively” and “signed off.”

Was the Seals hesitation caused by Obama’s confusing “signing off” on the operation?”
Obama’s nomination of Harold Koh as State Department Legal Advisor provides an answer. Koh firmly supports the International Criminal Court. This suggests Obama intends to dump the American Service Members’ Protection Act and put our war fighters under the control of leftist lawyers eager to please the anti American ICC.

If Obama had the wellbeing and safety of our military in mind he would not have “signed off” or “not signed off” on this operation. His hands on involvement in a military operation, opens the door to lawyers controlling combat operations.

When lawyers not commanders run combat operations America is in trouble.
This will likely lead to arrests of war fighters for “not having proper authorization” after having killed enemy combatants.
As sure as night follows day Obama has put our military in danger of indictment, prosecution and imprisonment by a kangaroo court of European American haters.
There is no room for second guessing in combat. We have seen the Left use “rules of engagement” to hobble our war fighters and twist their valiant efforts into political circuses. This may now become the norm.
This is a serious situation. Lawyers running combat will get our war fighters killed and imprisoned for doing the job of protecting us.
Once this starts how long will we continue to get these brave men and women to step forward?
Comments on this or any other Collins Report essay can be sent to kcoachc “at” gmail.com
 

Tam

Well-known member
Come on even you libs must have an opinion about the military being put on trial for keeping US citizens safe? :?

I heard Spain refused to put Bush's legal advisers on trial. so maybe the rest of the countries will follow suit and refuse to follow up on these kind of lawsuits too. :roll:
 
A

Anonymous

Guest
Tam said:
Come on even you libs must have an opinion about the military being put on trial for keeping US citizens safe? :?

I heard Spain refused to put Bush's legal advisers on trial. so maybe the rest of the countries will follow suit and refuse to follow up on these kind of lawsuits too. :roll:

Its just a Fearmongering article...They won't be prosecuted because President Obama signed off on the authorization of force- and they were well within the law and rules of engagement followed by law enforcement worldwide...

That- and the fact the Canadians had to let the pirates go the other day- is why they are holding an International Forum to develop some standard rules and agreement allowing arrest and prosecution:



New York/Ottawa - A Canadian warship warded off another attack by Somali pirates in the Gulf of Aden, this time on a Norwegian tanker, US and Canadian media reports said Sunday.

The destroyer Winnipeg chased away the pirates' speedboat after warding off the attempt early Sunday to attack the 80,000-ton MV Front Ardenne using automatic weapons and rocket launchers.

US naval vessels were also involved in the chase, which ended with the Canadians briefly detaining the pirates but then releasing them as Canadian law did not allow their prosecution.
 

Tam

Well-known member
Oldtimer said:
Tam said:
Come on even you libs must have an opinion about the military being put on trial for keeping US citizens safe? :?

I heard Spain refused to put Bush's legal advisers on trial. so maybe the rest of the countries will follow suit and refuse to follow up on these kind of lawsuits too. :roll:

Its just a Fearmongering article...They won't be prosecuted because President Obama signed off on the authorization of force- and they were well within the law and rules of engagement followed by law enforcement worldwide...

That- and the fact the Canadians had to let the pirates go the other day- is why they are holding an International Forum to develop some standard rules and agreement allowing arrest and prosecution:



New York/Ottawa - A Canadian warship warded off another attack by Somali pirates in the Gulf of Aden, this time on a Norwegian tanker, US and Canadian media reports said Sunday.

The destroyer Winnipeg chased away the pirates' speedboat after warding off the attempt early Sunday to attack the 80,000-ton MV Front Ardenne using automatic weapons and rocket launchers.

US naval vessels were also involved in the chase, which ended with the Canadians briefly detaining the pirates but then releasing them as Canadian law did not allow their prosecution.

KEVIN CARMICHAEL

From Monday's Globe and Mail

April 19, 2009 at 10:05 PM EDT

OTTAWA — Canadian sailors apprehended a band of Somali pirates at gunpoint early Sunday morning after a seven-hour pursuit across the Gulf of Aden, much of it under the cover of night.

HMCS Winnipeg, sailing off the Horn of Africa as part of a NATO-led anti-piracy mission, was escorting a United Nations food shipment when it happened on a skiff carrying seven bandits attempting to hijack the MV Front Ardenne, an 80,000-tonne tanker from Norway.

The Somalis ignored warning shots fired by a Canadian naval helicopter and fled the scene. HMCS Winnipeg, led by Commander Craig Baines, left the food shipment to other NATO vessels and gave chase.

An American ship also joined the pursuit. It was the Canadians who got to the pirates first.

As darkness fell, Cdr. Baines cut the lights and caught up with the smaller vessel by stealth. After firing another flurry of warning shots, sailors boarded the pirate craft, recovering a rocket-propelled grenade round.

“We blocked their path,” Michael McWhinnie, a spokesman for HMCS Winnipeg, told the Reuters news agency.

“We were faster and surprisingly more manoeuvrable than the pirate skiff.”

Prime Minister Stephen Harper praised HMCS Winnipeg's 240 crew members, who were sent to the Gulf of Aden earlier this month to join a patrol of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization that includes ships from Portugal, the Netherlands, Spain and the United States.

Still, Mr. Harper was forced to confront what is emerging as a significant weakness in the international effort to combat piracy off Somalia, a lawless country that lacks a governing authority strong enough to crack down on its growing number of the seafaring gangs.

The NATO patrol saved the Norwegian tanker from capture and robbed a gang of bandits of weapons, most of which the pirates tossed into the sea while being chased.

But after all that, the Somalis were released. The Canadian sailors, like their NATO allies, lack the authority to make arrests in international waters.

“We did briefly detain pirates and disarm them,” Mr. Harper told reporters after concluding a summit with leaders from the Americas in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. “Those were the appropriate measures under the circumstances.”

Asked whether Canada might take a more aggressive role and even fire on pirates' crafts, Mr. Harper said, “We use force when necessary, but only when necessary.”

HMCS Winnipeg is one of about 20 warships deployed by members of NATO, the European Union and big exporting nations such as China and India to patrol the Gulf of Aden, one of the world's busiest trade routes.

In 2008, there were 111 pirate attacks off the coast of Somalia, triple the number during the previous year, according to the International Maritime Bureau, a London-based organization that attempts to combat crime on the seas.

Pirates captured 42 of those vessels, including a Saudi supertanker called the Sirius Star and the MV Faina, a Ukrainian ship carrying tanks.

The international armada has had some success in repelling more and more gangs of gun-and-grenade wielding marauders.

Before the weekend, there had been 68 attempts this year, but only 18 captures, often of smaller vessels.

Still, there's little sign the pirates are close to letting up.

Many of them are poor fishermen and young unemployed men who have seen their brazenness rewarded with tens of millions of dollars in ransom payments, Hours before HMCS Winnipeg set off on its chase, the Belgian government confirmed that a 1,850-tonne dredger from that country called the PompeiÖ and the ship's 10 crew members had been taken by bandits.

Also on Saturday, Dutch marines foiled a short-lived hijacking of a Greek-owned tanker, saving about 20 seamen from being added to a hostage list that currently is in excess of 300 people, according to a count by the Associated Press.

Like Canada's sailors, the Dutch were forced to release their captives.

The Canadian and the Dutch sailors, for example, are permitted to detain pirates only if they attack Canadian and Dutch citizens or property. Otherwise, they must disarm them and set them free.


“There have been a lot of comments in the media about how much easier it was a couple hundred years ago, when we could just hang them from the yard arm,” Canadian Rear Admiral Bob Davidson said in an interview with CTV's Question Period Sunday. “There's the rule of law that needs to be applied, so we're not currently regularly detaining them, no. There are all kinds of challenges with that.”

With reports from Campbell Clark in Port of Spain, Reuters and The Associated Press.

Canadian ship helps thwart pirate attack
Updated Sun. Apr. 19 2009 9:44 PM ET

CTV.ca News Staff

Prime Minister Stephen Harper is praising the crew of a Canadian warship after they helped chase and detain Somali pirates who tried to attack a Norwegian tanker in the Gulf of Aden.

Speaking to reporters at the Summt of the Americas in Trinidad and Tobago, Harper said the crew had done "tremendous work" in the operation.

He also noted that Canada had "acted within our legal authority and also within our capacities."

HMCS Winnipeg, patrolling with other NATO vessels off the Horn of Africa, responded to a mayday call issued by the Norwegian-flagged vessel Front Ardenne after a band of pirates approached the vessel late Saturday, officials said.

The pirates fled after the Front Ardenne alerted nearby warships.

The Winnipeg gave chase, along with U.S. and British ships, and warning shots were fired to get the pirates to stop, Canadian military officials said. After several hours of pursuit, Canadian sailors boarded the small skiff and detained the group.

They found a rocket-propelled grenade, said HMCS spokesperson Michael McWhinnie. But after further interrogation, the pirates were released.

"We obviously act within our legal capacities, and also within our capacities," said Harper. "In this case we briefly detained the pirates and disarmed them, and I think those were the appropriate measures under those circumstances.

"Obviously, Canada always uses force when necessary, but only when necessary."


Canadian forces had to release the pirates because they cannot be prosecuted under Canadian law as they did not attack Canadian citizens or interests and no crime was committed in Canadian territory, NATO officials said.

Pirates have attacked more than 80 boats this year, about four times than in 2003, according to the International Maritime Bureau.

Pirates currently control at least 18 ships and hold more than 300 crew hostage.

HMCS Winnipeg and the American ship USS Halyburton, which also took part in this weekend's operation, are part of an anti-piracy NATO force patrolling the Gulf of Aden, a busy transport short cut between Europe and Asia.
 
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