Friday, November 16, 2007

Who cares about “rule of law”?

Columnist Robert Novak reports that a delegation of Iraqi attorneys, frustrated with the American priorities for the Iraqi legal system, came to Washington to meet with Fred Fielding, the White House legal counsel, to seek more aid (still a modest amount) for building the Iraqi legal and judicial system. What they got was a meeting with a low-level White House staffer (and, interestingly, a 45-minute audience with Chief Justice John Roberts). In other words, a cold shoulder from the White House.

But then, why should that surprise us? A President who has shown contempt for the Fourth Amendment in this country should not be expected to champion the rule of law in another one.

On a related note, the blogosphere has reported that the President has referred to the U.S. Constitution as “just another g-damned scrap of paper,” but I have not seen reliable evidence that he actually said it. If you have evidence, other than from a purely Internet source, that he actually said it, please contact me. I refuse to add my name to urban legends.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Sometimes it can be difficult to figure out just what is going on in Iraq. It seems Al Qaeda has crossed the line trying to intimidate tribal leaders. Still, I imagine some sort of stable government will develop in time. Since our leaders were hardly united in how to handle the situation, it's not surprising there are problems.