Folks, I almost spilled my coffee reading this one – US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is on a mission to “dismantle” the International Criminal Court (ICC). According to CNN, Rubio vowed to take down the ICC and urged other countries to join the effort, because, you know, the ICC is apparently “waging a war against our country” with “the force of so-called international law.” I mean, who needs international law when you have American exceptionalism, right?
I have to say, the Trump administration’s beef with the ICC goes way back to the first term, when the ICC had the nerve to investigate alleged war crimes committed by US forces in Afghanistan. And now, with the second Trump administration, things are getting even more heated, with sanctions imposed on ICC officials for trying to investigate the US and Israel. It’s like, hello, ICC, don’t you know who we are? We’re America, hear us roar!
The State Department is leading the charge, with a “whole-of-government campaign” to dismantle the ICC, which includes pressuring countries to join the effort and threatening to cut off US assistance to those who don’t comply. A State Department official said, “Nations that refuse to reject the ICC’s false authority while relying on US assistance are likely to come under increased scrutiny.” Oh, so now we’re the ICC police? Who knew?
Rubio wrote in a separate piece in the Wall Street Journal, “Using all the tools at our government’s disposal, working beside every ally with whom we can make common cause, we will dismantle the ICC—brick by brick, if necessary.” I love the image of Rubio with a hammer and chisel, taking down the ICC one brick at a time. And what tools might those be? Travel bans, visa revocations, and more sanctions, of course!
The administration is also calling on nations that are not parties to the court, like the US, to “leverage their diplomatic networks to take similar action alongside us.” Because, you know, we need all the help we can get to take down this evil ICC. And in his opinion piece, Rubio accused the ICC of being “backed and run by a powerful network of leftist nongovernment organizations, smug globalists, and hostile Third World governments united by their enmity toward the U.S.” Wow, that’s quite a mouthful!
But not everyone is on board with Rubio’s plan. Omar Shakir, the executive director of Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN), told CNN that Rubio mischaracterized DAWN’s call to investigate war crimes in Iran, and asked if Rubio believes US personnel should be investigated for war crimes. And then there’s the issue of the “rules-based international order” that grew out of World War II – apparently, Rubio is dismantling that too, brick by brick.
In conclusion, it’s been a wild ride watching the Trump administration take on the ICC. I’m not sure what’s more entertaining, the ICC’s attempts to investigate US war crimes or the administration’s dramatic efforts to take down the court. Either way, it’s been a great show, folks! And who knows, maybe one day we’ll have our own version of the ICC – the American Court of Justice, where we can prosecute all the bad guys and ignore international law altogether. Now that’s a thought! 🙄
Armchair patriot. Believes in the free market, cold beer, and that there’s always a guy named George behind every CNN segment.
Former remote-throwing champion turned #1 couch commentator on liberal panic in the media. Born in Texas (or so his mug says), he earned a degree in Fake Newsology & Beer Philosophy from YouTube University.
