Should the United States permit Gen. Tommy Franks, the commander of allied forces in Iraq, to be prosecuted in Belgium for alleged war crimes committed during the recent war?

Most Americans would say, "You have to be kidding; that could never happen."

But little Belgium, trying to be a player on the world stage, has adopted what it calls a universal-jurisdiction law. It purports to give Belgium jurisdiction over war crimes committed anywhere in the world and give Belgian judges the authority to hear complaints brought by anyone.

Already on file are complaints not only against Gen. Franks, but also against former President Bush, retired Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf, Secretary of State Colin Powell and Vice President Cheney, for alleged war crimes committed against civilians when U.S. forces bombed a Baghdad bunker during the first Gulf War. Claims have also been filed against Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and PLO leader Yasser Arafat.

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld properly and publicly lowered the boom on Belgium last week. He said the United States would provide no funds for the new NATO headquarters unless Belgium repeals this law.

Brussels has been host to NATO since 1967. NATO, which has long since completed its genuine mission of keeping troops from the former Soviet Union out of Western Europe, is now kept on life-support in order to continue channeling U.S. taxpayer money into Europe.

NATO is planning to pretend it has a reason to exist by building a $352.4 million futuristic headquarters in Belgium. U.S. taxpayers are expected to contribute at least 22 percent of the cost.

In Brussels recently, Secretary Rumsfeld said, "If the civilian and military leaders of member states cannot come to Belgium without fear of harassment by Belgian courts enforcing spurious charges by political prosecutors, then it calls into question Belgium's attitude about its responsibilities as a host nation."

Rumsfeld said the Belgian law "has turned its legal system into a platform

for divisive politicized lawsuits against her NATO allies." He added that it doesn't make sense for the United States to build a headquarters in Belgium if U.S. officials can't come to Belgium without fear of being arrested, and "I've just stated a fact."

Meanwhile, the Netherlands is trying to move to the center of the world stage with the International Criminal Court, headquartered in The Hague. The ICC bureaucrats, who are pseudo judges pretentiously asserting the power to enforce pseudo law, assert jurisdiction over U.S. citizens even though we are not now and never will be a party to the treaty and no international law can bind a country that has not signed a treaty consenting to be bound by it.

One of President Clinton's last official acts was his New Year's Eve signing of the International Criminal Court Treaty, but the U.S. Senate never ratified it. Current President Bush courageously stood up for U.S. sovereignty when he took the unprecedented step of "unsigning" the treaty. Continued...