Keep an eye on this

[Alpha Mare]

Tony Blair- War Criminal?

Tony Blair Faces War Crimes Accusations – Are Obama And Holder Taking Aim At Bush/Cheney?

What ultimately comes from the Inquiry, whether it results in an ICC War Crimes trial of Tony Blair, a national censure, or his exoneration of any wrongdoing, will have an effect on the future of members of the Bush Administration.  Should Blair come to trouble at The Hague, Obama and Holder will see to it that Bush and Cheney are not far behind.

http://www.newsrealblog.com/2010/01/27/tony-blair-faces-war-crimes-accusations-are-obama-and-holder-taking-aim-at-bushcheney/

It’s Official – Tony Blair A Murderer And A Liar

This story is far from finished and it bears close watching here in America.  Is Mr. Blair headed for a War crimes trial in The Netherlands for leading The UK into an “illegal” war?  That is a specialty of the International Criminal Court (ICC), to which many on the Left in the United States want to cede and surrender our national judicial authority.

This month President Obama very quietly made the offices and records of Interpol sovereign and exempt from American law enforcement by amending Ronald Reagan’s Executive Order 12425.  Interpol is the investigative arm of the ICC.  Why would he do that and then refuse to discuss it with reporters?

And a more troubling question arises:  If, in the worst case, Mr. Blair becomes a defendant at The Hague, what does that mean for President Bush and Vice President Cheney? 

http://www.newsrealblog.com/2010/01/30/its-official-tony-blair-a-murderer-and-a-liar-england-surrendering-to-islam/#pageTitle

By removing language from President Reagan's 1983 Executive Order 12425, this international law enforcement body now operates - now operates - on American soil beyond the reach of our own top law enforcement arm, the FBI, and is immune from Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA) requests.

The importance of this last crucial point cannot be understated, because this immunity and protection - and elevation above the US Constitution - afforded INTERPOL is likely a precursor to the White House subjecting the United States under the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court (ICC). INTERPOL provides a significant enforcement function for the ICC, just as our FBI provides a significant function for our Department of Justice.

http://threatswatch.org/analysis/2009/12/wither-sovereignty/

Any other ideas on why Obama would amend this?

[Chris_]

One of our resident attorneys would have to weigh in on this, but I don't think that an "Executive Order"  carries the weight of overturning legislative statute (like FOIA)......at the very least it would throw the matter into the Federal Court system.........I seem to remember that slick willie ran afoul of this little problem during his administration.......

doc

[Alpha Mare]

As near as I can figure, Obama's amendments mean that Interpol agents will have diplomatic immunity here, and Americans arrested by Interpol won't have the benefit of "due process".   

I'm just trying to figure out why O did this-what's he aiming at?

[Chris_]

As near as I can figure, Obama's amendments mean that Interpol agents will have diplomatic immunity here, and Americans arrested by Interpol won't have the benefit of "due process".   

I'm just trying to figure out why O did this-what's he aiming at?

Interpol agents may well have diplomatic immunity, as agents of the UN.........I was of the impression that Interpol was a freestanding international police organization (headquartered in France) that acted at the behest of "member" nations, and not a part of the UN at all......but I may be wrong.......

Obama would have a tough time arguing to a Federal Judge that Interpol could relieve a US citizen of his/her constitutional rights on US soil, while, at the same time, he is attempting to grant US "due process" to every towelhead scumbag that he can dig out of Gitmo.......just sayn'........

Consistancy has not, as yet, been an earmark of his administration so far......however.

doc

[DumbAss Tanker]

One of our resident attorneys would have to weigh in on this, but I don't think that an "Executive Order"  carries the weight of overturning legislative statute (like FOIA)......at the very least it would throw the matter into the Federal Court system.........I seem to remember that slick willie ran afoul of this little problem during his administration.......

doc

While you are right about what would take priority, FOIA in its own terms only applies to the government in the first place.  The extent Interpol (An NGO) falls under it is pretty much determined by any permission the Executive Branch gives it to operate here, which would make the Executive Order pretty crucial to the whole thing.
Couple of fine points, FOIA allows law enforcement agencies to not only refuse to release records about on-going investigations, but to actually lie about whether there even is such an investigation.  Also, the records of US agencies participating in Interpol activities would be subject to disclosure (But also the 'Right to lie' provision) insofar as their own activities with it were concerned.

[debk]

Isn't Interpol the European counterpart to the CIA?

I thought agents of both groups....and to a certain extent, with the Mossad.... worked together against the proverbial bad guys...

[Chris_]

Interpol.....at least according to wiki.......

Interpol, whose full name is the International Criminal Police Organization – INTERPOL,[1] is an organization facilitating international police cooperation. It was established as the International Criminal Police Commission in 1923 and adopted its telegraphic address as its common name in 1956.

Its membership of 188 countries provides finance of around $59 million through annual contributions. The organization's headquarters are in Lyon, France. It is the second largest intergovernmental organization after the United Nations.

Its current Secretary-General is Ronald Noble, formerly of the United States Treasury. Jackie Selebi, National Commissioner of the South African Police Service, was president from 2004 but resigned on 13 January 2008, later being charged in South Africa on three counts of corruption and one of defeating the course of justice. He was replaced by Arturo Herrera Verdugo, current National Commissioner of Policía de Investigaciones de Chile and former vice president for the American Zone, who remained acting president until the organization meeting in October 2008,[2] and was subsequently replaced by Commissioner of Police Singapore Police Force, Khoo Boon Hui.

In order to maintain as politically neutral a role as possible, Interpol's constitution forbids its involvement in crimes that do not overlap several member countries,[3] or in any political, military, religious, or racial crimes.[4] Its work focuses primarily on public safety, terrorism, organized crime, crimes against humanity, genocide, war crimes, Piracy, illicit drug production, drug trafficking, weapons smuggling, human trafficking, money laundering, child pornography, white-collar crime, computer crime, intellectual property crime and corruption.

In 2008, the Interpol General Secretariat employed a staff of 588, representing 84 member countries. The Interpol public website received an average of 2.2 million page visits every month. Interpol issued 3,126 red notices for the year 2008 which led to the arrest of 718 people.[5]

doc

[DumbAss Tanker]

Isn't Interpol the European counterpart to the CIA?

I thought agents of both groups....and to a certain extent, with the Mossad.... worked together against the proverbial bad guys...

Interpol is an intergovernmental group that is not answerable to any one government, sort of like the UN or the Inernational Committee of the Red Cross, what is known in military/diplomatic circles as an NGO or non-governmental organization (That's a broad class that also includes things that are do not involve participation of any actual governments as well, like international charities).  The Mossad and CIA are wholly-owned instruments of particular governments, Israel and the US, respectively; of course they are both intelligence organizations, not law enforcement ones.  It's in the nature of their jobs that NGO or national, intelligence or law enforcement, they all interact with each other, each to move his own ball down the field.