POINTLESS PUNISHMENT

DURING HIS LAST VISIT to Europe, President Bush promised new U.S.
allies in the eastern half of the continent that they would not be
forced to choose between their allegiances to the United States and to
the European Union. Yet now the White House is insisting on just such
a choice -- in pursuit of a gratuitous ideological point.

This week U.S. military aid to nine European countries, including six
incoming members of NATO, was suspended because of their failure to
conclude agreements exempting Americans from the jurisdiction of the
International Criminal Court. The court has yet to hear its first
case, much less indict an American. The European governments have all
positioned themselves as strong U.S. allies at a time of severe
transatlantic tension, and most have contributed materially to the war
in Iraq. That they have not met Washington's demand for a court
exemption is due only to their status as incoming members of the EU,
which has adopted a policy against such accords.

Yet Mr. Bush insists on punishing states such as Bulgaria, Lithuania,
Slovakia and Croatia by cutting off the aid they are using to
modernize their military forces so they can support NATO missions. He
persists even though European countries that actually oppose U.S.
policy, such as France and Belgium, will suffer no such sanction --
and will no doubt welcome any discord between the United States and
the "new" Europe.

This counterproductive action might be written off as a bureaucratic
mistake -- if the administration were not imposing the same pointless
punishment on U.S. allies around the world.

Some three dozen countries have had aid suspended because of their
failure to deliver an ICC exemption treaty.

These include Colombia, a big recipient of U.S. support whose
life-and-death battle against drug traffickers and terrorists has been
cast as an important priority by the Bush administration; impoverished
Central American and Caribbean nations that depend on U.S. aid to
fight drugs and provide relief after hurricanes; and South Africa, a
country the administration has been counting on to settle several
armed conflicts in a neglected region.

The idea that any of these nations would collar a U.S. citizen for
extradition on war crimes charges before the ICC is far-fetched, at
least for now. Yet the Bush administration is so determined to wage
war against the international court, a pet cause of Republican hawks,
that it would rather damage relations with these key allies than drop
its demand for accords covering an entirely theoretical situation.

There is some reason for concern that the international court lacks
controls that would prevent politically motivated prosecutions of
Americans, which is why congressional legislation connecting U.S.
military aid to the signing of bilateral exemption agreements passed
last year. But the legislation allows Mr. Bush to grant waivers at his
discretion (existing NATO members are automatically exempt), and so
far the court has done nothing to substantiate the concerns -- much
less justify the use of U.S. aid as a club. Administration officials
say waivers may still be granted to some countries in the coming months.

But by allowing the sanctions to take effect this week, Mr. Bush
needlessly offended some of the governments that have most supported
his foreign policies at a moment when sympathy for those policies
around the world is dangerously weak. Once again the administration
has broadcast the message that its own ideological agenda is more
important than its global alliances and that bullying is the best
means to get its way. And once again, U.S. prestige will be weakened.