I just read on an Italian forum that war crimes charges are being filed today, in a Belgian court, against Tommy Franks. However, the poster didn't cite his source. Has anyone heard anything about this? It could lead to the U.S. withdrawing its entire diplomatic presence in Brussels (which sould spell the end of NATO and end formal diplomatic relations between EU and US.)
"This will only make it easier for the US to dismiss international courts as irrelevant in the future " Daniel, USA The quote from the average joe has it right.
Just let it go to court. It is clear they are not going to win. If they are smart, the court shouldn't even take the case as it would damage their reputation to anti-American people all over the world once they find Franks innocent.
Some arabs tried that with Sharon and it didnt go to court. The idea behind the court is that if a country has evidence of war crimes against a person, who comes from a country that has a judicial system that works, country A would pass on the evidence. In this case the belgiums, if there is any evidence (which I doubt) would hand over the evidence to the United States leaving it to the american judges to decide whether or not the evidence is strong enough for a conviction
In other news, there is a lawsuit against McDonald's for making children obese, claims against various corporations for reparations for slavery, and Bob Barr is suing President Clinton and Larry Flynt for infliction of emotional distress. Lawyers!
There is nothing more feared in the world than Belgium's war crime court. If we ignore them, we might have to face the wrath of Belgium's awesome armed forces. I heard their rowboat now has a manned bb gun attached to it, doubling the attack power of their Navy....
And the lawyers that took on segregated schools, if we're going to keep making ridiculous comparisons.
It's people like you the rest of the world wishes very dead very soon. BTW didn't half the US navy force in the ME get wiped out by a few rubber boats with bombs? You better start fearing Belgium when they get an engine on that boat.
The comparison is not ridiculous. The tobacco companies were being sued 30 years ago because their product was dangerous and they didn't convey said danger to the consumer when they purchased the product. There is some distinction with the evidence that was found re: lies by the tobacco companies in their advertising, testimony before congress, etc. and exactly how much they knew and when. The entire premise of the McDonald's case is the same as with the tobacco cases. The product is dangerous, consumers weren't adequately warned of the danger and now consumers are ridiculously obese and have a myriad of other health related issues. I think it is also safe to say that McDonald's advertises to kids intentionally more than Tobacco does. So the question is whether this first lawsuit or a couple of additional lawsuits will find the same type of evidence they found in the tobacco cases. I think it is possible, but not likely. There are distinctions but it isn't an absurd comparison.
It may not be absurd, but there are distinctions that make it an incredible stretch... --nicotine is addictive across all metabolisms; french fries and Big Macs are not. --those who have caloric metabolism problems are going to have them across all food groups, not necessarily those from a single corporate entity --the DIRECT connection between the by products of tobacco smoke -- tar, carbon monoxide, etc. -- and various forms or cancer are provable with standard high quality epidemiological science... --you could probably make a STRONGER epidemological case for obeisty and attendant physical problems stemming from exceesive carbohyrate intake. Wanna sue all the bread and pasta manufacturers?? Bottom line, this case is a loser.
You once again prove you didn't even get close to understanding the concept we are discussing here. The idea behind the so-called genocide law, is that in some cases foreigners can be tried for war-crimes in Belgium. That means that e.g. an Iraqi citizen could start a case against Saddam. But, because Belgium is a free country, it also means that a few idiots have the right to start a case against Mr. Franks, despite the fact that the charges are ridicilious. There's no way anyway it will eventually go to court, the guys who started the whole procedure don't even believe it themselves, they see it as a 'symbolic' action. But to you 'Belgian court' = 'Belgian people' = 'Belgian Military' = 'Belgian Waffles' = 'Belgian everything' basically...
And it's people like you who just proves how irrelevant countries like Holland are. BTW, you seem to believe that I care about the rest of the world's opinion. Like it means something... I know you might believe that one ship is half a naval force, seeing that your Navy consists of a canoe..... It would push them above the Dutch navy, that's for sure...