The U.N.'s Special Tribunal For Lebanon issued warrants for four Hezbollah members yesterday for the assasination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. Even though Hezbollah will almost assuredly block the arrests, David Crane and Carla Del Ponte are psyched by the Tribunal's efforts:
Although Lebanon is no stranger to extreme violence, Hariri’s assassination rekindled the tension between Lebanon’s various factions that had been seething just under the surface. Lebanon sought to recover by turning a corner from political violence to the rule of law. It established a tribunal based in Lebanese law, with judges from Lebanon and other countries, that operates with a U.N. mandate. Knowing how perilous this project would be, the government signed on to an internationally sanctioned court that could transcend taint or accusations of sectarian partiality.
As the tribunal’s president, the noted Italian jurist Antonio Cassese, pointed out in a column last month, Lebanon’s government has aimed “to uphold and to practice the principle of judicial accountability for those who grossly deviated from the rules of human decency” and “to entrench the notion that democracy cannot survive without the rule of law, justice and respect for fundamental human rights.”
Elias Muhanna, by contrast, is underwhelmed. Frum tries to draw some lessons from the affair.
The Dish 