A Letter on Gaddafi

Posted by John Rosenthal

Diana West has been one of the very few American commentators to resist the siren calls of the “Libya hawks,” as she dubbed them early on. She has remained wary of the intervention in Libya throughout and lucid about the nature of the anti-Gaddafi opposition, and she has been kind enough to cite some of [...]

An Incoherent Criminal Court: Libya, Sudan & the ICC

Posted by John Rosenthal

This is the story of two photos and what they reveal about the incoherence of so-called international criminal justice, as embodied in the International Criminal Court (ICC). See my new article on National Review Online here.

Accused of Genocide in Darfur, Sudan is Western Ally in Libya

Posted by John Rosenthal

In a further sign of the close relations between Sudan and the new rulers in Libya, Sudan’s first vice president, Ali Osman Taha, met with the chairman of the executive board of Libya’s National Transitional Council (NTC), Mahmoud Jibril, in Tripoli on Thursday. Both the U.S. State Department and the International Criminal Court have accused Sudanese government forces [...]

Western Leaders Celebrate Libyan Rebellion at Site of Rebel Atrocity

Posted by John Rosenthal

The smoke-stained window frame in the background of Nicolas Sarkozy’s and David Cameron’s triumphal photo ops reveals the enormous elephant in the room that the western media has been ignoring: the al-Qaeda-like brutality and anti-black racism of our allies, the Libya rebels. My earlier Trans-Int post now on Hudson-NY with a new conclusion here.

McCain is Not Alone: Sarko, Cameron Celebrate Libya Rebellion at Beheading Site

Posted by John Rosenthal

As reported recently on the Daily Caller, when Arizona Senator John McCain went to Benghazi in April to call for stepped-up American support for the Libyan rebellion he was filmed with rebel leaders at a location where the rebels had publicly decapitated a man only weeks before. Following Nicolas Sarkozy’s and David Cameron’s triumphant visit [...]

John McCain Celebrated Libyan Rebellion at Site of Rebel Atrocity

Posted by John Rosenthal

When Senator John McCain went to Benghazi in April to express his support for the Libyan rebels did he visit the site at which an alleged pro-Gaddafi “mercenary” had been beheaded by the rebels only weeks before? Visual evidence assembled by the website Human Rights Investigations clearly shows that he did. See my new report on [...]

Unintended Irony: Merkel Reveals Contradictions of Western Libya Policy

Posted by John Rosenthal

In an interview with the Sunday edition of the German tabloid Bild, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that deposed Libyan leader Muammar al-Gaddafi should be tried at the International Criminal Court in The Hague. “Gaddafi should have a trial according to the rule of law, such as he never offered to his opponents,” Merkel told [...]

The Tragedy of the Libyan Boat People and the American Media

Posted by John Rosenthal

Last Thursday, hundreds of refugees fleeing Libya were rescued by the Italian coast guard from a stranded boat some 90 miles off the coast of Lampedusa. According to survivors, dozens of other refugees died on the boat. The incident was briefly covered by American news organizations, but only in such a way as to minimize [...]

Italian Report: US Pressured Berlusconi to Support Libya Campaign

Posted by John Rosenthal

Back in late March, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said that the U.S. had been asked to intervene in Libya by NATO allies, including Italy. Now, however, according to revelations in Il Corriere della Sera, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has confided to colleagues that Italy was in fact pressured to participate in the Libya [...]

A Political Court: The ICC, Gaddafi, and Libyan Rebel War Crimes

Posted by John Rosenthal

Last month, to much fanfare, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Muammar al-Gaddafi, his son Saif al-Islam al-Gaddafi, and Libyan military intelligence chief Abdullah Al-Senussi. ICC chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo had filed an application for the warrants in May. Among those celebrating the court’s decision was, of course, the Libyan opposition’s National Transitional [...]