The International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants for Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, his sons, and his Intelligence Chief. The warrants have been issued for various reasons but the underlying factor seems to be human rights abuses by Mr Gadhafi and his government.
The indictments stem from charges of killing, injuring, and arresting innocent civilians. Their have been allegations that Mr. Gadhafi has been giving his troops viagra so that they would have the sexual stamina to rape innocent women. Suppodsely this is part of a terror campaign designed to inflict fear in the hearts of the population.
The fact that these charges have been made is disturbing to say the least. There may be some fact to the allegations. The Libyan government rejects these charges because they do not recognize the authority of the court. They do raise a good point because they say that the court does not address the crimes which may have been committed by NATO troops.
I’m sure that NATO hasn’t been as good as gold in all of this but there is a difference. If there have war crimes committed by NATO (and I’m sure there have) it was not because the leaders of NATO sanctioned them as is the case with Mr Gadhafi. If NATO has covered up evidence of their crimes then someone needs to be held accountable.
This changes the nature of the conflict in Libya. The US was wise to insure that our military ring customers who serve in all branches of service were not involved because this war is turning out to be a long drawn out ordeal.
