African Union got it wrong, continent needs the ICC

Last week — as Burundi burned — the African Union resolved that African states should pull out of the International Criminal Court en masse. The AU threw the hissy fit because Kenya’s William Ruto and Sudan’s Omar al-Bashir stand accused of the most abominable crimes before the world court. The tantrum is inexplicable unless seen through the eye of the African dictator.

That’s because Africa’s strongmen don’t see like the rest of us — their eyes view the world through a distorted lens. Like Apartheid South African Boers, AU heads of state live in an evil insular world of self-deceit, malevolence, and impunity. It’s completely true — the AU mandarins don’t need the ICC, but Africa does. Let me tell you why.