"Rule Based Order" Thugs Threaten Families of International Criminal Court"

The US is Having a Temper Tantrum over ICC Filing for Israeli Arrest Warrants

For the first time in history the ICC (International Criminal Court) has filed for an arrest warrant against a Western ally. The Unites States has not taken well to this. Republican senator Tom Cotton is sounding like a US senate version of Joe Pesci in the deranged role of Tommy Devito in Goodfellows. In a letter to the ICC, Cotton had this to say:

“Target Israel and we will target you. If you move forward with the measures indicated in the report, we will move to end all American support for the ICC, sanction your employees and associates, and bar you and your families from the United States”

There is no dispute over the facts of the report, no counterargument, just plain threats based on US power.

This letter was signed by several other republicans. It’s a violation of the Rome Statute to threaten members of the ICC, but of course the US does not recognize these statutes. The United States does not even recognize that the ICC has jurisdiction over Israel.

Anthony Blinken has already stated that the Biden administration welcomes the opportunity to work on a bipartisan bill to sanction the ICC. It’s amazing how well the parties work together when they have common lobbyists.

Trump had sanctioned the ICC in June 2020, and it was considered authoritarian, undemocratic and dangerous to our freedom. a specialized UN committee announced:

“The use of unilateral sanctions against international judges and international civil servants constitutes a clear violation not only of their privileges and immunities, but also of a broad spectrum of rights of the targeted individuals”

The audacity to threaten a court, let alone members of the court for the purpose of intimidation. What hubris to use brute force to try to protect an ally from prosecution. This statement by ICC prosecutor Karim Khan sheds some light onto the thinking:

"I've had some elected leaders speak to me and they were very blunt. 'This court is built for Africa and for thugs like Putin,' was what one senior leader told me."

Former Israeli prime minister Naftali Bennett gave the standard line. He referred to Israel as a “democracy” protecting itself from a terror group. An interesting take on the term “democracy”, since Israel has been keeping over 2.5 million people locked in open air concentration camps and slaughtering them daily, now on multiple fronts. Only the West could describe this as a democracy.

Netanyahu was outraged at the comparison of Israel to Hamas. One is a terrorist group in his eyes, while the other is fighting a just war to defend themselves. Netanyahu conveniently ignores the two-ton elephant in the room: 35,000 citizens killed, at least 2/3 of which are woman and children. Let’s not mention the starvation, destruction of universities, hospitals, killing of poets, journalists and intellectuals, all in an effort to ethnically cleanse Gaza.

The hypocrisy is maddening. Putin had an arrest warrant issued for the same crimes, but he’s the enemy of the west. He spoke into the abyss when he talked about NATO and the US threatening to encircle him with hostile troops, how he raised this issue starting at the 2008 NATO conference and how he and Zelinsky had a peace deal in place that the US nixed. Secretary General of NATO, Jan Stoltenberg even admitted it was the threat of NATO that triggered the war.

What is the “rule-based order” term that gets thrown around when it’s convenient? On the surface it sounds like a good thing: that this world should run on a set of rules that makes for an equitable, safe world. In reality it means that the US and Western allies set the rules. There are no rules for the West, but plenty for the non-West. The West can act with impunity while those who buck the West are subject to whatever fate the West decides.

The West sets the rules by force not by democracy. Break the rules and they will break you. It’s common for historians to talk about those killed in the name of religion, communism and fascism. But what about the those who have died in the name of democracy and freedom? The West treats them as unfortunate collateral damage for a Greater Cause. Maybe the message should be “Be nice to America or we’ll bring democracy to your land”.

Digression here for a bit of heroism this week. Lily Greenberg Call, an Interior Department staffer resigned from the Biden staff. She is the first Jewish staffer to resign because of the administration’s policies. In her letter she said:

“‘I can no longer in good conscience continue to represent this administration amidst President Biden’s disastrous continued support for Israel’s genocide in Gaza”

Greenberg Call placed civility over party loyalty and humanity over the US Security State.

On Democracy Now, Greenberg Call was asked about Biden’s claim that the Gaza Invasion is for Jewish safety, and that Jews aren’t safe unless Israel is safe. Greenberg disputed that narrative:

“Continually using this message of Jewish safety as a smokescreen for slaughter of Palestinians makes Jews less safe”

She later added that “using the Jewish community as the face of the US war machine will not bring peace for the Jewish community”

See the whole interview here: