Tailing Taylor

Julian Sanchez | March 29, 2006

The Washington Post reports that Charles Taylor has been apprehended in Nigeria and will soon be handed over to the U.N. to face war crimes charges. Now, I'm the first to cede that Charles Taylor's communitarian thought has many unattractive features—from the abstract privileging of "forms of life" that are held to constitute "embedded" persons over the dynamic individuals who shape and recombine and give personal meaning to those forms, to the policy-level folly of reading "multiculturalism" as requiring giving coercive power to culture-groups so they can sustain themselves. But really, "war crimes"? I mean, Sources of the Self is actually a penetrating and useful book.

Sorry, what? Oh, that Charles Taylor. Well, serves him right, then.

Comments

|3.29.06 @ 3:20PM|#

Liberia just shows what happens when Liberiatarians actually get some power.

lunchstealer|3.29.06 @ 3:58PM|#

Liberiatarians

LOL.

|3.29.06 @ 4:18PM|#

Wasn't he promised peace and death by old age in Nigeria in exchange for stepping down? If we start backing away from those agreements then nodoby is going to step down without fighting anymore.

|3.29.06 @ 4:24PM|#

Wasn't he promised peace and death by old age in Nigeria in exchange for stepping down? If we start backing away from those agreements then nodoby is going to step down without fighting anymore.

wingnutx|3.29.06 @ 5:40PM|#

The man did make a hell of a sneaker.

|3.29.06 @ 6:38PM|#

Are they going to charge him for helping to inspire Lord of War?

|3.29.06 @ 7:07PM|#

johnl,

Your question brings to mind this interesting post on David Friedman's blog.

http://daviddfriedman.blogspot.com/2006/03/should-contracts-made-under-duress-be.html#links

|3.29.06 @ 10:37PM|#

"Wasn't he promised peace and death by old age in Nigeria in exchange for stepping down? If we start backing away from those agreements then nodoby is going to step down without fighting anymore."

This is one of a very few instances where an African government actually turned over a vile criminal to some kind of court. Despite the massiave flaws in such a system, it should be encouraged as opposed to the opposite of letting these folks live out their days in comfort.

The case against Slobo was a farce and should make a powerful arguement for reform of how The Hague works and whether it should be through the UN at all, but at least the guy didn't die at a resort or villa in the comfort of family and lackeys...

|3.29.06 @ 11:59PM|#

John,

I hope we won't hear you complaining when they pick up Pat Robertson for aiding and abbetting.