Answer This. What if an outside country decided (like Israel) to kidnap Bush And Extradite Him...

[AllexxisF1]

Answer me this people.

Could it be possible that a foreign country pull off a kidnap routine like the Israeli's did with former Nazi's and bring him to the Hague?

[Richard D]

1. The US would go to war with that country

Almost certainly. As unpopular and evil as * is, he's still going to be an ex-president and thus will garner "an attack on an ex-president is an attack on America" meme.

[Dogmudgeon]

5. It's not a "meme", it's a law

There's a federal law that views this as an act of war, in addition to a number of international laws that consider it an act of war. It's not an America-only thing.

If you notice, most of the dictators who are grabbed are from regimes that have been officially dissolved, like the German Third Reich, particular governments in Latin America and Africa, etc.

It is much more likely that lawsuits and charges will be lodged against Bush and his administration. Bush could then be arrested if he travels, but the arrest would have to be executed carefully, and Bush would almost certainly have to be returned to the USA to await trial.

No matter what his legal status may be, I'm sure that Mr. Bush will be an international persona non grata for the remainder of his life.

--p!

[amdezurik]

6. yeah, WE want to send him to the Hague

[Not the Only One]

10. yep. threatened total annihilation.

Doesn't matter how much we hate Bush. Countries can't just kidnap our former Presidents.

[Jackpine Radical]

2. That's a precedent not even Obama would want to see set.

There might be circumstances under which we would willingly and legally hand ver Bush/Cheney, but nobody's gonna turn a blind eye to the kidnapping of a high-profile American, no matter what their sins.

[Mike Daniels]

8. No US leader will ever be turned over by an acting administration

Ain't going to happen in anyone's lifetime so it's best to quit even hoping it will.

[HereSince1628]

3. Well, an outside country like Israel would be unlikely to do that.

And any country that made a kidnap move would be confronted with US military force. You can count on that. There would be an outcry from the American people that couldn't be ignored.

[notadmblnd]

4. I could live with it.

And wouldn't mind the "we don't negotiate with kidnappers" line the Government has always taken when it's happened to private citizens.

[onehandle]

7. We would bomb them back into the stone age. nt

[Sinti]

9. Representatives of the International Criminal Court could arrest him/them

IF they found them to be guilty of war crimes/crimes against humanity. At this time they don't have the ability to try individuals for crimes of aggression.

This is what they say regarding acting on their own:

The International Criminal Court will complement national courts so that they retain jurisdiction to try genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.

If a case is being considered by a country with jurisdiction over it, then the ICC cannot act unless the country is unwilling or unable genuinely to investigate or prosecute.

A country may be determined to be "unwilling" if it is clearly shielding someone from responsibility for ICC crimes. A country may be "unable" when its legal system has collapsed.

If we don't act and they think he's culpable for these types of crimes, they retain the right to act and at that time consider us either judicially collapsed, or complicit.

FAQ for the ICC

Edited to add:

They wouldn't likely kidnap anyone, though they did enter Serbia and apprehend Milosevic. Anyone indicted by the court would not be able to leave the country. If one of our leaders (and i use that term very loosely) were indicted and we didn't offer him up willingly, do you realize what that would do to our world standing? We would look like a rogue nation with no belief in the rule of law. We're not likely to take that risk. This ain't the schoolyard - this is real life.