Jurisdiction over Blackwater

Re “Blackwater’s loopholes,” Opinion, Nov. 15

Article 12, paragraph 3 of the International Criminal Court’s Rome Statute states, “If the acceptance of a state which is not a party to this statute is required . . . that state may, by declaration lodged with the registrar, accept the exercise of jurisdiction by the court with respect to the crime in question. The accepting state shall cooperate with the court without any delay or exception.”

If U.S. civilian and military law prohibits prosecution of Blackwater operatives for crimes in Iraq, the next administration should turn the lot of them over to the International Criminal Court and let it take care of the matter. Case closed.

Alan D. Buckley

Newbury Park

Re “Official’s brother has Blackwater ties,” Nov. 15

Just when I think I’ve heard everything when it comes to the subject of contracting and Blackwater in Iraq, a new twist surfaces. The State Department’s inspector general, Howard J. Krongard, only discovered that his brother, Alvin B. Krongard, is a paid consultant for Blackwater during the course of his testimony before a congressional panel. If he really didn’t know what his own brother was up to, one must question his ability to investigate complex events that have occurred in Iraq.

I long ago came to the conclusion that contracting war on a for-profit basis distorts our ability to find truth. But once again we are told that the foxes have investigated the problem, and they assure us that they hear only silence from the hen house.

Ray Dalton

Los Angeles