Civil War #1

[Legerd]

Okay, I'm conused (again). I checked out Civil War #1 in the comic shop and found a couple of things that seemed odd to me. Everything I read about SHIELD says it is an international organization mandated by, and answerable only to, the UN. So why is SHIELD enforcing the laws of the US? Also, (POSSIBLE SPOILER IF YOU HAVEN'T READ THE BOOK YET) literally seconds after informing CA that the US is going to pass the registration act, the new head of SHIELD sics her underlings on him for refusing to head up the witch hunt against other masks who would refuse to sign. So, CA is attacked by soldiers of a non-American law enforcement organization, on American territory, for refusing to obey a law that hasn't even been discussed yet by US lawmakers let alone passed into law.

[Mokole]

Well, over time SHIELD shifts to being American to UN to American to... Right now they are firmly American. In several comics, like the Wolverine lead-in to Weapon X, Fury was restricted in his actions by the U.S. President, so he couldn't act against Weapon X.

I think SHIELD was supposed to be a UN operation but has been sort of rewritten to be an American one, doing things to support America only.