I think charges before the ICC would be the way to go. We could treat it as a civil matter or a criminal matter. To let the world know how important this is, to satisfy our obligation to prevent rather than punish after the fact, I think criminal charges are in order. The problem is, to get to the ICC, we would have to go through the Security Council. We'd have to get a Security Council referral. To be honest, I am not terribly optimistic about the prospects for that. It's disappointing, but in the current climate we just can't count on it. That's why I mentioned the other possibilities. While we should always strive for the best course of action, we should also be prepared to take other courses of action if we can't follow through on the best one. Unfortunately, that's probably our situation here.
The administrative sanctions would be less effective. Any kind of resolution would be a lesser solution, even a lawsuit before the International Court of Justice. Still, it would at least communicate to the world that this is not acceptable. I come here today with a certain sense of moral outrage. How is it that we can just sit by and allow a world leader to attack a country like this and essentially anesthetize the rest of the world to the idea that eliminating this country is okay? It's almost like subliminal advertising. The more you hear it, the more it seems to be okay. That is scary and dangerous, and I think we need to do something.
I appreciate the question. It's important to do something, even it's not as effective as criminal sanctions.