It was only a matter of time, I guess:
WASHINGTON — The United States has put the question squarely before Belgium: Which do you want more, NATO (search) headquarters in your capital city or a law that sanctions war crimes charges against U.S. military commanders?
Yep, now that they're suing Cheney, Bush (Sr.), Powell, Schwarzkopf and Franks in that international criminal court, it's time to get tough. But this is old news already.
Earlier this week, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said the United States would try to relocate the headquarters of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization if Belgium doesn’t abolish the law giving rise to war crimes allegations.
Now, in a flurry of new activity:
Belgium Wavers After U.S. Pressure on War Crimes Law
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Belgium showed signs of buckling on its controversial war crimes law on Friday, after Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld vowed to block spending on NATO's new headquarters in Brussels unless it was revoked.
Defense Minister Andre Flahaut said the country's universal jurisdiction law, which has been used to file suits against several senior current or former U.S. officials, could perhaps be revised for a second time to end the standoff.
And,
Belgium to transfer war crimes probe to Israel
BRUSSELS, June 13 — Belgium said on Friday it was taking steps to transfer to Israel a war crimes probe into the role of an Israeli general in the 1982 massacre of Palestinians in Lebanon linked to then-Defence Minister Ariel Sharon.
I think that big thump you just heard was a very small chunk of "Old Europe" coming back down to earth.
