November 13, 2006

The extraterritorial jurisdiction chickens of United States courts may be coming home to roost; a German prosecutor is threatening to indict former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld for "war crimes" under a theory of "universal jurisdiction" in German courts. We have long said that a risk of the United States asserting its jurisdiction over extra-territorial acts is that other countries would come to feel that it could assert their courts over us. Even if one dislikes Donald Rumsfeld, one has to fear the long-term consequences if other nations are allowed to judge our foreign policy in legal proceedings. (Adam Zagorin, "Charges Sought Against Rumsfeld Over Prison Abuse", Time.com, Nov. 10).