Juan Cole points to this article about the Pentagon reaction to the recent criminal complaint against Rumsfeld and others.
Pentagon spokesman Lawrence DiRita said that
"I think every government in the world, particularly a NATO ally, understands the potential effect on relations with the United States if these kinds of frivolous lawsuits were ever to see the light of day."
Cole reports this under the title " Pentagon Threatens Germany over Rumsfeld Suit".
I am not sure if that DiRita comment should be described as a threat. I would rather want to understand it as a warning, and as one that only states rather obvious things. No German prosecutor needs this statement by DiRita to know that the American government will not be pleased if he decides to start a criminal investigation of the complaint.
And surely the Pentagon can't possibly assume that any threat might help influence the decision about what to do with that criminal complaint in a way favorable to Rumsfeld. Of course, if anything, a real threat could only damage his position. If German prosecutors are influenced at all by vague threats, it is probably only in a backfiring way.
And, as I remarked in my first post about this complaint, under German criminal procedure, there is no way to avoid that this case is going to court, short of having the Center for Constitutional Rights and the four Iraqi citizens back down. I don't know how much "light of day" the complaint will see, but it will certainly see some judges sooner or later.
Posted by Karl-Friedrich Lenz at December 15, 2004 10:07 PM | TrackBack