When the FBI Comes Calling…®
November|December 2005
PIRATICAL
DOUGLAS R. BURGESS JR.'S ARTICLE ("The Dread Pirate Bin Laden," July | August 2005) is indicative of a radical lobby toward the gross liberalization of international criminal law. Burgess argues that universal jurisdiction-the right to try anyone, in any court, anywhere for certain uniquely heinous crimes-may be applied in both spirit and law to the crime of terrorism. Put another way, he says, all terrorists may be tried by anyone, at any time, for being just that: a terrorist. His claim is grounded in the argument that terrorists are the enemies of all because, he says, they have "declared war against civilization." But, of course, this simply is not true.
Terrorism is the application of force in order to effectuate desired policy ends. These policies come from particular individuals or states. As a result, possible targets are narrowed to something way short of the civilized world. (It seems inconceivable to imagine the Tamil Tigers launching a surprise attack on Canada, for instance.) Pirates were prosecuted universally because they really were enemies to all. Their end was criminal enterprise, not political change. Their violence was applied to anyone from whom they could plunder booty.
Matthew R. McNabb
Assistant For National Security Affairs
Washington, D.C.