You’ve got to be kidding me

Iraqi civilians are preparing a complaint to present in court in Belgium accusing allied commander Gen. Tommy Franks and other U.S. military officials of war crimes in Iraq, according to the attorney representing the plaintiffs.

The complaint will state that coalition forces are responsible for the indiscriminate killing of Iraqi civilians, the bombing of a marketplace in Baghdad, the shooting of an ambulance, and failure to prevent the mass looting of hospitals, said Jan Fermon, a Brussels-based lawyer. He is representing about 10 Iraqis who say they were victims of or eyewitnesses to atrocities committed during Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Excuse me? Where are the Iraqi civilians screaming out about the crime of Saddam Hussein? I don’t think these 10 Iraqi’s have much to do with this, actually.

Mr. Fermon said the complaint against U.S. officials is based on a 1993 Belgian law that gives a Belgian court authority to judge war crimes committed by noncitizens anywhere in the world.

The plaintiffs sought to file the complaint with the recently inaugurated ICC, but “since the United States did not ratify the treaty to join the institution, we felt compelled to go to a court in Belgium,” he said.

Ah ha… Now I see what they are up too. Someone is gung-ho on shoving the ICC issue in our face? I wonder…

The filing of the complaint threatens to heighten tensions between Brussels and Washington, which have been strained since Belgium joined France and Germany to lead European opposition to the war in Iraq.

Oh yes, that’s right. Sheesh, what a difference a war makes.