Courtesy of Human Rights Watch:
Twelve of the Security Council’s 15 members are on record in support of referring Darfur to the International Criminal Court (ICC) as part of a Sudan resolution that is currently under negotiation. However, the Bush administration opposes an ICC referral because of its ideological aversion to the court.
The United States has instead proposed creating a new ad hoc tribunal for Sudan that has serious flaws, Human Rights Watch said. In the face of no support for this proposal, the United States is now seeking a 45-day delay to make a decision on accountability.
I beg to differ with the use of the term "ideological aversion to the court." Our aversion isn't ideological, it's practical. We commit so many crimes and attrocities around the world that we quite simply don't want to have to be tried for them. And if it means a bunch of Africans have to wait another 45 days for some action to be taken...well...whatever, right? I mean, it's not our problem.
Except it is. By tacitly ignoring Darfur, we are creating yet another example of what the CIA calls "blowback," the act of making destructive causes that reap destructive effects for us in America. 9/11 is the mother of all blowbacks. The brilliant Chalmers Johnson wrote a whole book about this subject, which I strongly encourage every US taxpayer to read. Buy it here. Here's a bit from the blurb:
From a case of rape by U.S. servicemen in Okinawa to our role in Asia’s financial crisis, from our early support for Saddam Hussein to our conduct in the Balkans, Johnson reveals the ways in which our misguided policies are planting the seeds of future disaster.