Support for the International Criminal Court is an article of near-religious faith on the political left, a central component of its "global governance" vision. In actuality, however, the ICC has been marginally effective, poorly administered, and its priorities diffuse -- much like its feckless, irrelevant sister, the International Court of Justice, and many other international bodies.
The ICC has avoided irrelevance in one key case -- Sudan. But it has actually made that desperate humanitarian crisis harder to resolve.
Specifically, the ICC indictments in July 2008 for Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir and other regime figures accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity have clearly had the opposite of the intended effect: Rather than pressure Bashir to stop the killing, they've strengthened his domestic position and hardened his already intractable line on "concessions" to inhabitants of Darfur.
This sad turn of events has provided virtually clinical proof of warnings by ICC critics that the court's "independence" was a defect, not a virtue -- leaving it disconnected from the legitimacy of representative government, and also from the global reality of power and conflict.
Yet it is impossible to act responsibly in Sudan without an understanding of power and conflict. Although recent attention has focused on Darfur, in the country's west, the ethnic and religious north-south conflict that preceded Darfur's suffering is also a candidate for the "genocide" label and remains unresolved. A 2005 agreement halted it, but postponed resolving the underlying issue of independence for the south.
Add in the separatist tendencies in the eastern region of Sudan (exacerbated by the Eritrean-Ethiopian conflict), and the country as a whole is a slow-motion disaster, with three potential breakaway regions.
Darfur's day-to-day level of violence may be lower than at the height of the slaughter by Khartoum-backed militias, but millions are still in displaced-persons camps -- their villages and livelihoods ruined; their security still uncertain.
Peacekeepers and outside political efforts, first from the African Union, then in a hybrid with the UN, have been ineffective, with "settlements" collapsing in the swirling, increasingly international conflict. The Security Council's recent one-year extension of the UN peacekeeping mandate didn't change these fundamental operational and diplomatic realities.
The Obama administration entered office seemingly determined to resolve the Sudan problem, but has instead suffered from public displays of internal disagreement.
Subscribe to the Electronic Edition and get the New York Post exactly as it appears in print.
Do you know someone who has made New York a better place? Nominate your hero for the 8th Annual New York Post Liberty Medals.
if (WIDGETBOX) WIDGETBOX.renderWidget('85995f92-98f6-46ca-86e6-73003e4f2f6d');Get the New York Jobs - New York Post Classifieds widget and many other great free widgets at Widgetbox! TODAY'S HEADLINES AROUND THE WEB Scott Rasmussen: Health Reform an...Strassel: Blue Dog BluesWashington vs. Silicon ValleySpitzer's Incredible Shrinking Ca...Justice SotomayorIt's Time to Legislate a Spending...Don't Employers Deserve Free Spee...There Is a Military Option on Ira...Cool, ManNotable and Quotable Did we have friends before social...Barmy Army?s duty is to boo for E...Don?t bank on the City optimists...Skirting the issue of who wears t...Harry Patch?s victory was to die...Why the new generation can?t stan...You dish it out, Lord Sugar, so l...Britain should have boycotted Mah...A popular raspberry against yah-b...The Chancellor?s SOS: stimulate o... Steven Milloy: The Futility of Hy...Gutfeld: How Does Stimulus Stimul...Mike Baker: Responsibility Rears...Heritage: Obama's 'Extreme Team'... Happy Hour LinksGibbs: Nobody is Collecting Infor...Lanny UnchainedWrong on ZimbabweQuinnipiac: Obama Approval at 50%Rasmussen v. KrugmanDNC Engages in More Nefarious Ast...But for Wales?Palestinian Crime BossesPresident Obama Uses DNC Technolo... News Local News National News International News News Columnists Weird But True NYPD Daily Blotter Liberty Medals Traffic & Transit Lottery Classroom Extra Sports Yankees Mets Giants Jets Knicks Nets Rangers Islanders Devils Sports Blogs Columnists Bettor's Guide Horse Racing Picks Post Line Gossip Page Six Cindy Adams Michael Riedel Celebrity Photos Celebrity Sightings Page Six Magazine Delonas Cartoons Business Business Columnists Real Estate Jobs Stock Quotes Entertainment Movies Movies Blog Oscars Food Fashion Fashion Blog Music Theater Health Travel Travel Blog Horoscope Dating Weekend Guide Comics & Games Post Game Report Tempo Post Opinion Editorials Oped Columnists Letters Books Ramirez Cartoons Send a Letter TV Linda Stasi Starr Report Reviews TV Listings LIVE: The TV Blog Classifieds Cars Jobs Real Estate For Rent Buy/Sell/Trade Tickets & Events Pets Services Place an Ad Miscellaneous Sweeps/Contests Coupons Media Kit Parade Magazine RSS Special Sections Privacy Policy Terms of Use Video Page Six MagazineMedia Kit User Services Contact Us FAQ Daily Newsletter Home Delivery Avant Go E-Edition Mobile Archives Back Issues Reprints Story Index Past Editions Sitemap subscribeprivacy policyterms of userss
NEW YORK POST is a registered trademark of NYP Holdings, Inc. NYPOST.COM, NYPOSTONLINE.COM, and NEWYORKPOST.COM are trademarks of NYP Holdings, Inc.
Copyright 2009 NYP Holdings, Inc. All rights reserved.
_qoptions={ qacct:"p-71srIU8qxlTKc" };
Home|News|Sports|Page Six|Business|Entertainment|Opinion|TV|Classifieds|Blogs
NEW YORK POST is a registered trademark of NYP Holdings, Inc. NYPOST.COM, NYPOSTONLINE.COM, and NEWYORKPOST.COM are trademarks of NYP Holdings, Inc.
Copyright 2009 NYP Holdings, Inc. All rights reserved.
Read Full Article »