FW: Rule of Law v. Rule of War:Jeff Cohen

[Boyle, Francis]

Francis A. Boyle
Law Building
504 E. Pennsylvania Ave.
Champaign, IL 61820 USA
217-333-7954(voice)
217-244-1478(fax)
fboyle at law.uiuc.edu <mailto:fboyle at law.uiuc.edu> 
 


-----Original Message-----
From: Boyle, Francis [mailto:FBOYLE at LAW.UIUC.EDU]
Sent: Thursday, September 20, 2001 8:12 AM
To: 'AALS Section on Minority Grps. mailing list' (E-mail)
Subject: Rule of Law v. Rule of War:Jeff Cohen


From: "Jeff Cohen" <jeffco at ulster.net>
Sent: Wednesday, September 19, 2001 11:13 PM
Subject: Jeff Cohen Column


> RULE OF LAW VS. RULE OF WAR:
> Are Media Missing the Lesson of Oklahoma City?
> 
> By Jeff Cohen
> 
> Many media voices are enlisting in the push toward war. CBS anchor Dan
> Rather seemed more soldier than reporter on Monday's Letterman show when
> he endorsed the war drive and added: "George Bush is the President..
> Wherever he wants me to line up, just tell me where."
> 
> It's worth remembering that a similar push followed the last dreadful
> act of terrorism against America on our soil, Oklahoma City. Many in the
> mass media immediately began goading us toward retaliation against a
> presumed Arab, Islamic enemy. Columnist Mike Royko called for the
> overseas bombing of civilian infrastructures: "If it happens to be the
> wrong country, well, too bad."
> 
> The bellicose rhetoric came to a stunning halt as soon as it was learned
> that the anti-American terrorists were not from the Mideast. In fact,
> one was from the Midwest -- Michigan. The leader was Timothy McVeigh,
> who went to his death believing himself to be at war against the U.S.
> 
> Perhaps the lesson to be learned from Oklahoma City is that our country
> did not take the bait. The U.S. did not declare war on McVeigh and his
> network of extremist fellow-travelers.  The Bill of Rights and civil
> liberties were not trampled on the path to increased security.
> 
> Instead, McVeigh and his accomplices were dealt with as a democracy
> deals with mass murderers. They were apprehended, prosecuted and
> punished after being given trials, lawyers, the right to confront
> witnesses and challenge evidence. The armed fanatics who sympathized
> with McVeigh were not all hunted down and destroyed, but they've
> certainly been quieted.  Many of us abhor the death penalty that was
> given to McVeigh, but the rule of law prevailed.
> 
> The terrorists behind the attacks on the Twin Towers and the Pentagon
> are more numerous, perhaps more dangerous and better protected than
> McVeigh and friends. Still, it's appalling how little mainstream media
> have discussed relying on the rule of law -- international law -- to
> pursue the foreign terrorists.
> 
> Few news reports have pointed out that there is one body under
> international law that can authorize military action: the United Nations
> Security Council. If the U.S. has strong evidence against Osama bin
> Laden and associates, and Afghanistan continues to refuse extradition to
> the U.S., the two countries could negotiate  surrender of the suspects
> to a neutral country for trial (as happened with Libyan agents tried for
> the Lockerbie explosion). If that approach fails, the U.S. could present
> its case to the Security Council, which could authorize the equivalent
> of an international arrest warrant.
> 
> That the United States of America should uphold and adhere to
> international law is seen as preposterous, un-American and weak. In a
> piece titled, "To War, Not to Court," Washington Post columnist Charles
> Krauthammer wrote: "Secretary of State Colin Powell's first reaction to
> the day of infamy was to pledge to 'bring those responsible to justice.'
> This is exactly wrong."
> 
> Fox News Channel offered a rare interview with an actual expert in
> international law, Francis Boyle of University of Illinois, who offered
> a step-by-step legal process for pursuing the terrorists -- which
> provoked an indignant Bill O'Reilly to decry "empowering the U.N."  Days
> later on his show, one of the most watched on cable news, O'Reilly
> advocated bombing and destroying the civilian infrastructures of
> Afghanistan and Iraq, followed by attacks on Libya.
> 
> Listening to the Krauthammers and O'Reillys and leaping into unilateral
> action does more than undermine the rule of law. It isolates the U.S.
> instead of isolating the terrorists. Much of the world will see an
> excessive or misdirected U.S. military action as a tragic rerun of
> adventures that have callously injured innocent civilians from Panama to
> Iraq to Sudan.
> 
> And a new misstep will breed ever more anti-American terrorists.
>                             --------------------------
> Jeff Cohen is the founder of FAIR, a national media watch group based in
> Manhattan, and a media critic on the Fox News Channel.
> 
> For more on media coverage since 911:   http://www.fair.org
>