Kerry was for global court (before he was against it)

 In a Jan. 28, 1993, Senate speech explaining the resolution, Dodd clearly suggested this court should have the power to prosecute Americans. "We cannot push for the establishment of an international tribunal and pretend at the same time that we are exempt from its reach," he said.

 On Dec. 21, 2000, 10 days before the deadline for signing the Rome Treaty establishing the ICC, Kerry joined 17 other senators in a letter urging President Clinton to sign it. The letter (http://www.amicc.org/docs/Senate12_00.pdf), posted online by The American Non-Governmental Organizations Coalition for the International Criminal Court (whose members include the United Methodist Church), assumed Americans would be tried by the court and rebutted fears they would be tried unfairly.

  "The ICC represents an historic step forward in the international effort to punish and deter war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide," the senators wrote. "Throughout the years of negotiations on the ICC, the United States has secured significant safeguards to ensure that American soldiers are not subjected to politically motivated actions by the Court . . ."

 Kerry and the others fretted that the flocking sparrows of this peeping tribunal might clip the wings of the American eagle. "The ICC will have jurisdiction over nations that are not party to the Treaty whether or not the U.S. signs," they warned Clinton. "If we do not sign, or even worse, if we seek to undermine the ICC's authority, there is a strong possibility that the Court's prosecutors and judges will see themselves in opposition to the U.S. and our official personnel."

 Clinton caved and signed the treaty. In 2002, Bush unsigned it.

 This year, Kerry responded to a questionnaire from the group Peace Action: "I support U.S. participation in the International Criminal Court, but also believe U.S. officials, including soldiers, should be provided some protection from politically motivated prosecutions."

 So, here we have the great debater's bottom-line on an International Criminal Court whose members already include Venezuela, Cambodia, Colombia and Niger: It can prosecute Americans as long as it is not politically motivated when doing so.