U.S. shuns International Criminal Court
Tuesday, May 7th, 2002The U.S. has officially discontinued any pretense of interest in an international treaty to create the first permanent tribunal for war crimes. The United States signed the International Criminal Court treaty during the Clinton Administration but never ratified it. The Bush Administration claims, as did Clinton, that the Court would be a violation of U.S. sovereignty: by which they mean, of course, that Americans might find themselves in the dock.
The United States has long viewed international tribunals as, at best, imperfect tools of U.S. imperial policy. When the United States was found by the International Court of Justice to be engaging in war crimes against Nicaragua, President Bush (the elder) simply ignored the Court. American leaders cheer, however, when the same court goes after Slobodan Milosevic. Our interest in international courts depends entirely on whose ox is being gored.
