CHERTOFF: U.S. THREATENED BY INTERNATIONAL LAW

[kpete]

Chertoff says U.S. threatened by international law

By David Morgan
Reuters
Friday, November 17, 2006; 6:31 PM

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A top Bush administration official on Friday said the European Union, the United Nations and other international entities increasingly are using international law to challenge U.S. powers to reject treaties and protect itself from attack.

"International law is being used as a rhetorical weapon against us," Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, a former federal appellate judge, said in a speech to the Federalist Society, a conservative policy group.

Chertoff cited members of the European Parliament in particular as harboring an "increasingly activist, left-wing and even elitist philosophy of law" at odds with American practices and interests.

But he said the same pattern could be seen in the policies of the United Nations and other international bodies.

more at:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/17/AR2006111701395.html

[villager]

1. Ceasar's consuls are getting mad!

How dare the barbarians contradict Roman law!

[stepnw1f]

2. No, Chertoff... YOU are Threatened by International Law

You and your administration are not the "U.S.".

[aquart]

3. Tell me again why we didn't hang him after Katrina?

Just on principle?

[opihimoimoi]

4. Aren't we supposed to be a Nation of LAWS??? WTF is he talking about??

Chertoff is BS and a fucking Crony...He dunno shit

[BootinUp]

5. We are NOT CROOKS!

lol.

[AIJ Alom]

6. In other Republican news...Constitution found to be outdated,

out of touch, and unreliable. Hammarubis Code suggested as possible replacement.

[razors edge]

7. Next thing you know

International law will limit the Immigration Dept's ability to spirit Saudi nationals and Bin Laden family members out of nation after a terror attack.

This will not do.

[rusty charly]

8. or:

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A top Bush administration official on Friday said the European Union, the United Nations and other international entities aren't falling for their big flaming bag of B.S., like the typical American Fox Network watcher.

"International law is being used as a sane, legal and necessary weapon against us," Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, a former federal appellate judge, said in a speech to the Federalist Society, a conservative policy group.

Europeans cited members of the Bush Administration in particular as an "increasingly activist, right-wing and even elitist philosophy of lawlessness" at odds with international practices and interests.

But he said the same pattern could be seen in the policies of Robert Mugabe and other dictatorial bodies.

[mike_c]

9. that's what lawbreakers always say....

Prison is filled with the innocent and the misunderstood.

[twilight_sailing]

10. "protect itself from attack"

That means preemptive war against people who had not attacked us, who hadn't even threatened us; e.g. Iraq, right Mr. Chertoff?

Well, damn, who'd a thunk it?

Our invasion of Iraq might just look like aggression to rational observers without a vested interest in our "winning" the war against Iraq.

As soon as we get the puppet government propped up there and we get our permanent military bases finished there, we will be... what, Mr. Chertoff? Will we be the de facto rulers of Iraq or will we just be closer than close, such good, good buddies with the new Iraqi government that they just won't be able to help themselves when it comes to aiding American "interests"?

Watch your back, Republican imperialists. Something might be gaining on you.

[hvn_nbr_2]

11. Mafiosi: We're threatened by the rule of law

Increasingly, public figures and institutions are using laws to challenge our powers. "The rule of law is being used as a rhetorical weapon against us," he said. He cited members of legislatures and Congress as harboring an "increasingly activist and elitist philosophy of law" at odds with Cosa Nostra practices and interests.

[whistle]

12. Remember that the Federalist Society is an anti-American fascist group

[seafan]

13. So, the rest of the world are pushing back, are they, Mr. Chertoff?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/17/AR2006111701395.html">Chertoff says U.S. threatened by international law

By David Morgan
Reuters
Friday, November 17, 2006; 6:31 PM

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A top Bush administration official on Friday said the European Union, the United Nations and other international entities increasingly are using international law to challenge U.S. powers to reject treaties and protect itself from attack.

snip


"What we see here is a vision of international law that if taken aggressively would literally strike at the heart of some of our basic fundamental principals -- separation of powers, respect for the Senate's ability to ratify treaties and ... reject treaties," Chertoff said.
--snip
Chertoff said the U.S. Supreme Court decision on Guantanamo prisoner Salim Ahmed Hamdan that required the United States to treat detainees under Geneva Conventions standards showed international law's entry into the U.S. domain.

snip

He also pointed to negotiations leading up to last month's interim agreement between the United States and the European Union on sharing personal information about trans-Atlantic airline passengers.
The Bush administration sought addresses, credit card details, phone numbers and other details for U.S.-bound European air passengers as a way to determine whether any should be turned back from entering the United States as a security risk.

"Some in the European Parliament argued that the fact the information was derived from Europeans coming to the U.S. meant that we should be forced in the United States to let Europe supervise and set the terms of how we make use of that information," Chertoff said.

snip

Chertoff also cited press reports of European privacy activists trying to constrain U.S. use of financial information obtained in Washington's war on terrorism.
"There are increasing efforts to control our use of information in our own country," he said.
Some EU activists, he said, believe national sovereignty is weakening under an avalanche of international laws.
"It (is) a chilling vision of where we could go, given the current developments in international and transnational law," Chertoff said.

[PassingFair]

14. Your boss shouldn't have BROKEN so many of them,

Mr. Chertoff.

He always reminds me of the bad guy from that Dr. Seuss book
about the The King's Stilts.

That creeps who steals the stilts, Lord Droon.