Steve3007 wrote: ↑September 10th, 2018, 8:19 am
I read that John Bolton, the Trump Administration's national security adviser, will today be giving a speech indicating the administration's absolute distain for the International Criminal Court (ICC). He will apparently be saying:
The United States will use any means necessary to protect our citizens and those of our allies from unjust prosecution by this illegitimate court.
The United States will always stand with our friend and ally, Israel.
We will not cooperate with the ICC. We will provide no assistance to the ICC. We will not join the ICC. We will let the ICC die on its own. After all, for all intents and purposes, the ICC is already dead to us.
We will consider taking steps in the UN Security Council to constrain the court’s sweeping powers, including to ensure that the ICC does not exercise jurisdiction over Americans and the nationals of our allies that have not ratified the Rome Statute.
Is this music to the ears of tyrants the world over? Has the one tiny chance for the international accountability of the rich and powerful finally been removed? Is this an explicit acknowledgement that, in international affairs, there is one and only rule: the rule of physical force?
Or am I being hysterical and should calm down? Is Bolton right to criticise the ICC?
Neither Bolton nor Trump represent the international community. They barely represent a tiny minority of Americans.
They are temporary. There is a chance that the US shall wise up - though I'm not going to hold my breath.
The rest of the world shall abide even to the point of the US falling into civil strife and even civil war.
So the answer is no. The rest of the world can get along without you.
Prospects for the US are extremely poor and the little Trump as managed to do, has done nothing to alleviate that; it has only put the US in the wrong direction. The UN were right to laugh at Trump's risible speech. I used to think that Bush was the biggest possible embarrassment to the US, until Trump - could it get worse? Maybe!
What's needed is a true people's movement from the roots to bring radical reform to the US's failed "democracy". Hilary it ain't. Obama was the best prospect yet, but he was rendered impotent by the systems of of corruption, self serving politicians, and the plutocracy.