Pentagon Reports Bush’s “Go It Alone” Strategies Have Harmed the “War on Ter

John at AMERICAblog calls attention to this report by Mark Mazzetti in the NY Times, which details how U.S. cuts in foreign aid to certain African nations has hurt the "War on Terror." And it's all because George Bush and the Republicans believe that they - and their policies - are above the law. Since 2003, Washington has shut down Pentagon programs to train and equip militaries in a handful of African nations because they have declined to sign agreements exempting American troops from the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court in The Hague. But the policy, which was designed to protect American troops, has instead angered senior military officials, who say the cuts in military aid are shortsighted and have weakened counterterrorism efforts in places where the threat of international terrorism is said to be most acute. Bush and the Republicans fear their behavior would put them in the dock at the Hague, if the US were to become a signatory to the jurisdiction of the Criminal Court. It may be the only thing they've ever figured out correctly. And they don't want any US service personnel brought up on war crimes charges, because the defense would inevitably be "I was just following orders" - a phrase made infamous at Nuremberg.