By: Terresa Monroe-Hamilton
You can go to the following links for background:
Of Executive Orders and Trojan Horses
Of Executive Orders and Trojan Horses – Update
More Executive Orders – Obama’s Strange Powerplays
Andrew McCarthy has a new article up at NRO that is a must read – key excerpt (Hat Tip: Carolyn Cooke):
That doesn’t begin to cut it. An agency’s having a permanent U.S. presence is more of a reason to bind it by U.S. law, not a rationale for immunizing it. And Interpol apparently has had no difficulty operating under the Reagan-era restraints during the five years since its permanent office opened. Moreover, as Richardson points out, Interpol is not just “any other international organization”; it is an international law-enforcement organization. As I’ve explained before, “what prevents law-enforcement and its controlling government authority from becoming tyrannical” are the constraints of law — in the U.S., such provisions as the Fourth Amendment, the Freedom of Information Act, and other limitations of the Constitution and federal law that protect the liberty and privacy of Americans.
And a very telling quote from Andrea Shea King at The Radio Patriot:
Did you watch the Fox All Star Panel on Special Report tonight? To a man, Krauthammer, Easton and Juan all agreed this was much ado about nothing. I was shocked.
In fact, Krauthammer used the very excuse given here…
“The revisions bring Interpol’s U.S. office in line with its other seven international offices, all of which already enjoy full diplomatic immunity. “It’s international custom that international organization are exempt from FOIA,” said Noble. “We’re no different than any other international organization.””
Wow….
If you haven’t read it, read the following article from the New York Times. Glenn Beck mentioned it as did Clyde Middleton of The Patriot Room – key excerpt:
PARIS — Interpol and the United Nations are poised to become partners in fighting crime by jointly grooming a global police force that would be deployed as peacekeepers among rogue nations riven by war and organized crime, officials from both organizations say.
On Monday, justice and foreign ministers from more than 60 countries, including the United States and China, are gathering in Singapore for a meeting hosted by the two international organizations.
It is the first step toward creating what Interpol calls a “global policing doctrine” that would enable Interpol and the United Nations to improve the skills of police peacekeepers, largely by sharing a secure communications network and a vast electronic trove of criminal information, including DNA records, fingerprints, photographs and fugitive notices.
Here’s another article from the New York Times to read as well… (Hat Tip: Jean Stoner)
Also read: Paradox of International Law… (Hat Tip: Nancy Jacques) Key excerpt:
So what does INTERPOL have to do with the UN? Some critiques state that INTERPOL is not a supranational police agency with investigative powers, nor is it an organization sanctioned by an international governing body (such as the United Nations); however it is widely known that the UN Security Council and the International Court of Justice (the primary judicial organ of the United Nations) have been working very closely with INTERPOL on the fight against terrorist acts by Al-Qaida and the Taliban. This gives many people the impression that INTERPOL is in fact a supranational organization, or at the very least an extension on the UN, and rightfully so because within the last decade they have become synonymous and often indistinguishable.
Many believe that when President Obama enacted his executive order granting INTERPOL full diplomatic immunity; that he opened our nation’s back door to more future international regulation, in affect revoking America’s sovereignty. Based on the history of international governing and policing bodies and President Obama’s enthusiasm to make America an internationally regulated state…the critiques assumptions could be considered well founded. It’s important to note that the concept of granting immunity to foreign nationals in our country is not new; in fact the practice goes back to 1790 when the “Act for the Punishment of Certain Crimes against the United States” passed, wherein basic immunity was granted to foreign diplomats. However, the immunity given at that time had major restrictions placed on it, unlike today where those restrictions do not exist.
This is an excellent article and is another must-read…
Expose Obama also has a great article up (Hat Tip: Nancy Jacques):
The order guarantees that Interpol officers have immunity from prosecution for crimes they may commit in the United States. Ironically, some Interpol nations are attempting to try American intelligence agents for their work abroad in the War on Terror.
This order shows blatant disregard for the U.S. Constitution. While Obama is extending due process rights to terrorists he is weakening those same rights for American citizens. If a citizen were to be prosecuted by Interpol, their newly granted immunity would interfere with the discovery process. Since Interpol files are immune to disclosure, a citizen could be denied his right to see the information used to prosecute him or her.
Obama’s executive order has done more to weaken civil liberties than the much-maligned Patriot Act. The silence in the mainstream media on this issue should scare all freedom-loving Americans. Obama just signed away parts of our precious legal protections.
I would wager that this will bite America in the ass big time. The White House will not comment on it period, so what else can we think? This should not stand… If we open ourselves to international policing with no restrictions, it will lead to no where good and you can bet on that.
UPDATE: INTERPOL’s explanation for immunity doesn’t cut it (Hat Tip: Jean Stoner)
