When absolute power is divorced from logic

Rwanda: Judge Bruguiere's Move Invalidated by ICTR:
"... Everard O'Donnell, spokesman for the tribunal tasked by the United Nations with judging the genocide, protested the French magistrate's methods: 'The ICTR prosecutor,' he said 'does not take instructions from anyone in the world.' Stressing that the prosecutor, Hassan Bubacar Jallow, was independent, even from the UN Security Council the spokesman rather gave to understand that this is not necessarily the case with all magistrates."

You probably remember the old joke about doctors thinking they are godlike; now it seems we have to add UN appointee Hassan Bubacar Jallow to that elite group. His spokesman, Mr. O'Donnell, assures us that Mr. Jallow is an unconstrained First Mover.

Of course, the logic of the situation suffers when one dares to ask how does one receive more power than the appointing authority possessed itself? To be fair, this is a problem for those staffing our own government, not just the UN.

But the logical fallacy I really want to point out here involves the official charters of the ICTR and Judge Bruguiere.

Here is Mr. O'Donnell giving the official justification for leaving the current leader of Rwanda unprosecuted for his past crimes: "The crash (of President Habyarimana's aircraft - Le Figaro editor's note) did not cause the genocide" and the late president's death (apparently regardless of criminality) is not a crime of the sort the ICTR was formed to prosecute.

Just so we all are on the same page, let's lay it out in one sentence. The assassination of President Habayarimana was a necessary step to allow the genocide of his tribe to proceed since he would have used the power of the government to prevent his fellow tribemen's murders.

So, Mr. O'Donnell and Mr. Jallow, let me suggest that the relevant point is not "did the plane crash cause the genocide?" - of course not. The appropriate question to ask is "did the genocide (i.e., the conspirators who brought it about and facilitated its devastation) cause the plane crash?" and here I think the answer may well be in the affirmative.