Hmmm. Well, I think they're relevant, BB. :-) Who gets to define whether or not a court is a "kangaroo court"? It appears to me that everyone makes their own definition up about that one on the spot, according to whether the court in question sees things the way they do or not.

In my opinion, for instance, the Allied courts at Nuremberg were in some respects a kangaroo court...in that they tried only war criminals from Germany and Japan and ignored other war criminals of the time who were from the USA, the UK, and Russia, for example. And in that they tried some military officers who were really not war criminals, but were simply soldiers...because it was deemed politically expedient at the time. On the other hand...some of the people they tried did deserve to be accused of war crimes. It was a mixed picture. Call it a half-kangaroo court then. :-)

The World Court tried the USA in the 1980's for illegally attacking Nicaragua in a variety of ways and causing many civilian deaths there. The USA was found guilty by the World Court...and ignored the ruling...as powerful aggressors always ignore such rulings.

That was not the ruling of a kangaroo court, it was the ruling of an international body which could plainly see what the USA will not publicly admit to.

The international body called the United Nations was clearly not willing to endorse the recent war on Iraq (Operation Iraqi F*ckup), despite the Bush administration's heavy lobbying. Thus, the USA and Britain ignored the further wishes of that international body on the matter and launched their illegal war.

That's just what Al Capone or Mussolini would have done too. "Look, Jake, ya got the guns? Ya got the soldiers? Who the f*ck cares what the law says about it? Take them suckers out! The law ain't got the muscle to tell us what we can do in this town."

That's what it amounted to. Pride, hubris, contempt, and ruthlessness...combined with a messianic belief in the righteousness of one's chosen cause.

The international community knows perfectly well that the USA has no respect for it or for international law...and they return the sentiment at this point. The USA is presently the World's number 1 rogue nation, and pretty well everyone knows it except the American public...and probably the Israeli public. They live in a reality bubble all its own, where goodness flows automatically like a river from their every thought and action. That river drowns other nations and destroys other people's dreams.

Kofi Annan is simply saying what is so plainly obvious that there's almost no way he can't say it. The USA defied most of the World and launched an unjustified, illegal war for its own strategic gains. Period.

They will soon be looking for a new Saddam, because the USA always needs a new Saddam...in order to justify the next imperial adventure. The old Saddam (and the old Bin Laden) may still prove marginally useful until the 2004 election is over. After that, he's "history", as they say.