The World as I See It: The International Criminal Court

By Rich Kozlovich

On September 10, 2018 Patrick Goodenough posted the article, "Bolton Lays Out New Stance on Int’l Criminal Court: ‘We Will Let The ICC Die on Its Own’", saying:

"The United States is already not party to the International Criminal Court, but in a striking decision announced Monday by National Security Advisor John Bolton the Trump administration said it would not cooperate at all with the tribunal – and will moreover take punitive steps against it if it goes after U.S. or allied nationals."

Bolton made it clear the U.S. will not tolerate any unjust prosecution of American citizens "by this illegitimate court", and "warned of the possibility of sanctions, and even criminal prosecutions, against ICC officials."  He also made it clear that any country that cooperated with ICC investigations of U.S. citizens could find itself forfeiting economic and military aid. 

Let's face it folks.  The world can tell the difference between a Richie Cunningham and an Arthur Fonzarelli, and here's a long overdue example of that:

"The new broadside against the ICC follows steps by the administration challenging international cooperation in other areas. This year, the administration has withdrawn from the United Nations human rights body, halted financial support for a U.N. aid program for Palestinian refugees and threatened to pull out of the World Trade Organization."

And now the Trump administration is showing they say what they mean as the Trump administration closed the Palestine Liberation Organization D.C. office, which acts as a de-facto embassy.  So, why is this important?  Because Palestinians were seeking prosecution of Israel at the ICC, and in doing so the administration "contends that the Palestinians violated U.S. law", and acted accordingly. 

A new sheriff came to town, all in sharp contrast to Obama, who would have rolled over and played dead for these illegal international thugs.  The U.S. in not a signatory of the 1998 Rome Statute, which created the ICC, so the idea they have jurisdiction over America or Americans is illusionary, and to acquiesce to such thinking is an absolute violation of American national sovereignty and the United States Constitution. 

(Editor's note: The good little leftist he is President Clinton, more than happy to undermine U.S. sovereignty, signed the Rome Statute but never sent it to the Senate for ratification.  That makes his signature meaningless.)

Bolton has noted: “America’s long-term security depends on refusing to recognize an iota of legitimacy.”  In short, the U.S. position is the ICC doesn't exist, and the administration doesn't care what the rest of the world thinks!  It's about time!

Just as the United Nations has become the most corrupt and incompetent organization in the world, dominated by left wing thieves, thugs and murders, putting countries like Cuba and Venezuela on their Human Rights Council, so also would this court become a corrupt tool to be used against the U.S., which is unapparelled in its efforts to prevent crimes against humanity.

In June of 2004 Brett D. Schaefer published an article entitled, Justice by Fiat saying:

"No sovereign state should be forced into a treaty it opposes."  "Unscrupulous individuals and groups will seek to similarly misuse the ICC for politically motivated attacks. America is uniquely vulnerable to these kinds of charges, because of its extensive network of military bases and deployments in defense of its myriad interests around the world. In many cases, its interests require a presence or deployment to an ICC party, or military action against the nationals of an ICC party. Each instance opens a Pandora's box of legal vulnerabilities ripe for exploitation."

He went on to say:

"Since the vast majority of the court's discretion lies within the Office of the Prosecutor, the ICC offers little opportunity to resolve these issues diplomatically and, because of its lack of appropriate checks and balances to prevent it from being misused, represents a dangerous temptation for those with political axes to grind. Americans need more reliable protection than the goodwill and good judgment of an international legal bureaucrat".............."Claims by the ICC to represent the will of the world are patently false............."

While the original, and alleged intent, of the ICC was to prosecute international war criminals, it didn't take long before the ICC prosecutor started to define the boundaries of ICC authority differently.

In April of 2004 Michael Chertoff, former Secretary of Homeland Security under President George W. Bush, wrote an April 2004 article entitled Justice Denied saying:

"the ICC's own prosecuting authority has expressed a vision of its mission that would target even ordinary private American citizens, such as businessmen and bankers."

He went on to outline how dangerous this kind of thinking and redefinition of ICC authority is quoting Moreno-Ocampo, the new chief prosecutor of the ICC: 

"that officials of multinational corporations could be held accountable before the ICC for directly or indirectly facilitating conduct that leads to violations of international law. So, the ABA journal relates, if companies engaged in trading natural resources pay money to a government that uses it to fund soldiers who commit war crimes, those companies have arguably facilitated war crimes, and their officials could be prosecuted. Against the backdrop of this disturbing specter, Moreno-Ocampo "encouraged" these corporations to cooperate in the effort to eliminate conditions that can lead to atrocities and similar violations.

What an open ended, unbounded view of the ICC's authority!   Is there any doubt this is not about law, and human rights, it's about a hidden political agenda?  This interpretation isn't about the rule of law, it's about unrestrained tyranny by internationalists. 

That was in 2004.   Should we believe anything has changed? 

The U.S. isn't placing itself above the law. The U.S. is telling the world they're not going to let these unelected, unaccountable leftist bureaucrats decide what is legal, what is right or what is wrong by judicial fiat, or the corrupt thinking and dictates from internationalists who are unendingly undermining the foundations of America.

Internationalists who hate the U.S., the American economy, the American identity and the U.S Constitution.  The only things standing between freedom and worldwide governance by corrupt and incompetent leftists.