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Yesterday came the big news that the Germans had suddenly announced a lawsuit had been filed against Donald Rumsfeld for war crimes.
I even interviewed The Judge about this. He told me — told us — that under universal jurisdiction Germany claims the right to prosecute anyone in the world for war crimes. It helps if the person actually comes to Germany so he or she can be arrested.
The Judge also explains the United States claims this right as well. Of course, we go after people for war crimes and for terrorism.
But it has always seemed odd to me that the Germans are so determined to prosecute others for war crimes when... well, need I say more?
Yes, I know somebody is going to explain to me that the Germans know war crimes all too well and have the moral high ground on these prosecutions. We'll leave that argument for another day.
But this happened once before in Germany. Back in October of '05 the German authorities were faced with the same situation and the German federal authorities dropped the case. At the time it was thought that maybe Rummy wouldn't attend an important NATO meeting in Germany if this charge were hanging over his head.
And the German authorities said one reason they dropped the case was that they expected the U.S. to act against Rummy first. Fat chance of that happening.
Earlier — around the time of the Iraq invasion — Belgium was also going to prosecute Rummy for war crimes. That got dropped when Rummy hinted that maybe the U.S. wouldn't spend $100 million on a new NATO headquarters in Belgium.
So why the lawsuit in Germany now?
Because it's obvious the U.S. isn't going to indict Rummy for war crimes. So the expectation the U.S. would act is over. And because Rummy is out of office. Now nobody has to worry that he won't attend an important NATO meeting or he won't spend $100 million on a new building somewhere.
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