On World Court, U.S. Focus Shifts to Shielding Officials
The Bush administration is shifting its emphasis in seeking exemptions for Americans from the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court, telling European allies that a central reason is to protect the country's top leaders from being indicted, arrested or hauled before the court on war crimes charges, administration officials say.

In most of their public utterances, administration officials have argued that they feared American soldiers might be subject to politically motivated charges. But in private discussions with allies, officials say, they are now stressing deep concerns about the vulnerability of top civilian leaders to international legal action.

As an example of the fear, one senior official pointed to the legal actions brought against former Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger in Chilean and American courts. The actions were brought by people who accused Mr. Kissinger of aiding in the 1973 coup in Chile and in the ensuing 17-year dictatorship of Gen. Augusto Pinochet.

"The soldiers are like the capillaries; the top public officials — President Bush, Secretary Rumsfeld, Secretary Powell — they are at the heart of our concern," the senior official said. "Henry Kissinger, that's what they really care about."

"They don't really care about the Lieutenant Calleys of the future," added the official, referring to Lt. William Calley, who was given a life sentence for the My Lai massacre in Vietnam, but was then paroled.

Officially, the White House today repeated what its spokesmen have said in public speeches and statements: that their primary concern is that American soldiers, and not public officials, would be brought before the court on politically motivated charges.

But they also said protecting top officials has always been part of their opposition to the court, which was established this year to prosecute those charged with genocide and crimes against humanity.

"We do not make the distinction between ranks here," said Sean McCormack, the spokesman for the National Security Council. "Our concern is politicized prosecutions of everyone — our servicemen and women and government officials."

State Department officials also acknowledged the concern about protecting top American officials and pointed to a speech in May by Mark Grossman, under secretary of state for political affairs, who said the administration "must insure that our soldiers and government officials are not exposed to the prospect of politicized prosecution and investigations."
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/09/07/international/europe/07COUR.html