A recent editorial in The Wall Street Journal calls on the United States to contribute funds to the Khmer Rouge Tribunal. The ECCC is now a "tribunal worth paying for," writes John Hall, who has in the past harshly criticized the court.

America's refusal to contribute funds unless the court meets international standards has helped prompt improvements at the court, according to Hall.

"That U.S. leverage only works, however, so long as people have reason to believe American money might be forthcoming if participants can satisfy the U.S. concerns," he writes. "If the U.S. holds back now, despite the progress of the past few months, it will lose this advantage."

Though a June editorial in The Journal urged donors to carefully scrutinize the tribunal's new budget proposal, some of the contentious expenditures seem to have been ironed out. For example, as of early this week, the proposed 15% contingency funds have been reduced to 7.5%, according to court spokesman Peter Foster.

As I've mentioned before, as an American citizen, I hope the U.S. will step up to its historical responsibilities.