How about civilian courts? http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/afp/20030613/pl_afp/iraq_us_sue_030613163803 Iraqi shepherd sues Rumsfeld, Franks over loss of relatives and flock Fri Jun 13,12:38 PM ET Add Politics - AFP to My Yahoo! RAMADI, Iraq, June 13 (AFP) - An Iraqi shepherd is seeking 200 million dollars in damages from the US military for the deaths of 17 members of his family as well as 200 sheep in a missile strike, in the first such suit filed through the courts of the US-led occupation administration. The first hearing will take place on July 20 at the tribunal of Ramadi, 100 kilometers (60 miles) west of Baghdad. "The trial will be Iraq (news - web sites)'s first against US troops because we believe they used excessive force against the Iraqi people who cooperated with the United States to topple Saddam Hussein (news - web sites)'s regime," Abud Sarhan's lawyer told AFP. Lawyer Rabah al-Alwani was approached by Sarhan, 71, to file a suit against US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and General Tommy Franks, commander of US forces in Iraq, after the shepherd claimed a US missile landed on his tent on April 4. Days before, Sarhan had left his home village of Al-Altash, near an Iraqi military base that was heavily bombed by coalition warplanes. He had set up a tent in the nearby desert to host 20 of his family members and relatives in three distinct sections, one for women, one for men and the other for children, said his half-brother Hamad Sarhan, 25, who was wounded in the attack. "We thought we would be safe there. There were no military positions, only shepherds and their flocks. "Before the night prayer, a missile landed next to us, shortly afterwards another one fell right into the women's section. "It was horrible. We could not make out whose limbs were scattered on the ground," he said. All his family members died, except for him and his half-brother as the two had stepped outside the tent to perform their ablutions in preparation for the evening prayer. He said 200 of their 700 sheep also died in what he said was a coalition raid. Missile debris, children's clothes and sheep carcasses were still littering the ground two months later, an AFP correspondent at the scene reported. The shepherd could not be interrogated as he had taken his 300 cows to graze up north, in the lush fields of Makhmur. "We went to Ramadi's tribunal to file a suit and it was deemed receivable because we produced all the requested documents," said Alwani. The tribunal then informed the coalition through Iraq's justice ministry where one of the coalition advisers is providing technical assistance, he added. His colleague Aref al-Dulaimi said the shepherd could reasonably argue for 200 million dollars in compensation. "We hope the two US leaders will appear in front of the tribunal or that they will be represented," he also said. He said Ramadi's tribunal had sent a letter to the Iraqi justice ministry which must now contact the foreign affairs ministry. The latter will send a letter to Iraq's embassy in Qatar to inform the US military's Central Command there of the trial date in Ramadi.
The current court is a joke. Nevertheless, in an era of international disputes, there must eventually be a court w/binding decisions that's not located in any one country. Otherwise, some of the problems are going to emerge that existed under the Articles of Confederation in the US.
Actually I have no problem with that; that wasn't my point. I was just resentful of the implication that the US Army is a bunch of gang-bangers. The US has suffered a small share of embarassments in the realm of military conduct but we are a shining star in comparison to many of the nations on this planet. It's just the endless criticism you know...
