A group of influential Republican senators has sent a letter to International Criminal Court (ICC) chief prosecutor Karim Khan, warning him not to issue international arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli officials, and threatening him with “severe sanctions” if he does so.
In a terse, one-page letter obtained exclusively by Zeteo, and signed by 12 GOP senators, including Tom Cotton of Arkansas, Florida’s Marco Rubio, and Ted Cruz of Texas, Khan is informed that any attempt by the ICC to hold Netanyahu and his colleagues to account for their actions in Gaza will be interpreted “not only as a threat to Israel’s sovereignty but to the sovereignty of the United States.”
“Target Israel and we will target you,” the senators tell Khan, adding that they will “sanction your employees and associates, and bar you and your families from the United States.”
In their letter, the dozen Republican senators remind Khan that the U.S. “demonstrated in the American Service-Members’ Protection Act the lengths to which we will go to protect [its] sovereignty.”
The ASPA, signed into law by George W. Bush in 2002, has since become widely known as “The Hague Invasion Act” because it authorizes the U.S. president “to use all means necessary and appropriate” to bring about the release not just of U.S. persons but also allies who are imprisoned or detained by the ICC.
I dunno, it seems to me that if someone starts threatening you over something you’re investigating, you should probably take that as a sign to investigate even harder…
Note that the American domestic fascist party also supports a (foreign) jewish nationalist ethnostate (zionism), despite being the main group promoting antisemitism domestically.
It’s almost like authoritarians and fascists are defined by their authoritarianism and fascism — authoritarians of a feather, genocide together — instead of their religion, race, or ethnicity…
The common factor between their support of Zionism and their domestic antisemitism, is hate. They support Zionism since they hate the Muslims. They’re domestically antisemitic because they hate the Jews. They’re motivated and driven by hate. They are the poison that the civilized world dies on.
There’s an additional aspect. An interpretation of the end-times prophecy. Some believe (primarily evangelicals) that God promised the Holy Land to the Jewish people, and that reestablishing Israel’s political boundaries will begin the end times. So as much as they may hate the Jews, they must be in power in Israel.
I’m sure a lot of it has to do with campaign donations as well. The party is full of hate, but I feel these politicians are just mouthpieces for their donors in their own personal pursuit of power and wealth.
Exactly, Christians have no pious convictions or beliefs. They say and do whatever they’re paid to say or is convenient
So america has a “right” to invade my country if the ICC prosecutes a non american war criminal? Huh.
Kinda wild, especially since they leave other Americans to rot in foreign prisons. I highly doubt they’d actually do it though, and if they do I hope the EU shoots those troops out of the sky if they really dare to take hostile action. I think it’s just stupid strongmen policy to appear tough.
I think shooting foreign troops would be seen as an escalation. And I don’t think Europe wants to see where that will go.
Invading foreign countries already is an escalation. You cannot the defensive actions against that an “escalation”. That’s Russian type of logic.
I’d say the US will definitely cease its aggression when the first French nuke hits an aircraft carrier, or similar target. The French do commit to warning shots in their first-strike doctrine.
…unlikely to come to that point, though, Europe can stalemate the US by conventional means with the current arms levels, they’d never get boots on the ground. It’s also not like we’d need nukes to sink those carriers. Washington is then welcome to seethe at an ocean’s distance.
France nuking American Aircraft Carriers?!?! At that point there wouldn’t be any need for “boots on the ground” because France would be nothing but glass and smoking craters.
That scenario is literally the end of the world.
Then don’t threaten France, or its vital interests (which definitely include the Netherlands) with invasion. Simple as that. As de Gaulle himself said, you can switch around nationalities yourself:
Within ten years, we shall have the means to kill 80 million Russians. I truly believe that one does not light-heartedly attack people who are able to kill 80 million Russians, even if one can kill 800 million French, that is if there were 800 million French.
France won’t be glass and craters for the precise reason that the US would be glass and craters if they don’t cease their aggression. Ceasing aggression, France will see no need to first strike, crisis averted. Simple as that.
It might come as a surprise for Americans that there’s smaller countries that can’t be bullied around by military force but trust me the French are dead serious about their nuclear first strike doctrine. Which the US is well-advised to also take seriously so that the French won’t need to fire even a warning shot. They’d also prefer not to.
The warning shot, btw, won’t come via ICBM so that it’s clear that it’s not an actual extinction-level attack. The French have cruise missiles specifically for that purpose, until they explode they look like any other cruise missile you’d
lobthrow at a carrier.
The euphemistically named ‘Hague invasion law’ actually only promises to take any action necessary to avoid being held responsible. In real terms though, any military action against Hague will deeply polarize the world and destroy the current world order where the US enjoys some dominance and influence. The resulting scenario will see the US attracting the hostility of a lot of formerly allied nations. It will be worse than being held responsible at the ICC. So you’re kind of safe.
You say that like a significant number of these Republican’s donors would not salivate over being able to fracture the US from world politics like that.
…Russia. I’m talking about Russia, if you’re unaware.
This is the military-happy wing, so they really don’t need much excuse. The “tougher” something sounds, the better. In their view anyway.
An they unironically use “sovereignty” as the justification.
But they really want the ICC to have Putin, huh
Maybe they don’t, I don’t know. Republicans are kind of unpredictable on that.
I’m not even saying the ICC should judge the case in any particular way, just that a court should be able to go through the process they need in order to make a judgement.
No they don’t, and that’s just another reason to use the veil of Judaism to attack them. They just want to have their oil and gas (in both cases).
US didn’t “endorse” the ICC arrest warrant of Putin exactly for the same reason. They are not part of ICC, since half of their intelligence members and past presidents could be charged there for war crimes.
Does ICC charge dead?
No. Like any court, they only deal with people physically in front of them.
Oh. I thought past presidents that could be charged with warcrimes implied long dead.
And side question: is it worth keeping those fossils alive to bring to ICC? The Old Rat is 71 and does not become younger.
What I meant was that if they were signatories to the Rome Statute at the time, actions they committed would quality for war crime charges.
As far as if it’s worth it? I would say yes. It would legitimize US in the global community. Right now everyone knows US is the biggest hypocrite on the world stage.
I wish people would stop saying the USA can’t sink any lower, because every time this is said, we prove it wrong. x_x
“The bar was so low it was a tripping hazard in hell, and yet here you are, Limbo dancing with the devil.”
Do it. Call their bluff. Fucking hosers. All empty threats anyway.
I don’t think it’s that empty. GOP will be back in power some day.
I don’t think Rubio or Cruz will ever be elected as president. 12 extra nutty Republicans don’t speak for the rest of the nuts.
It’s not even all of the GOP. It’s only 12 of the dumbest. Can we just vote these members out already? Honestly, nobody cares what Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz think about anything. Last I checked they’re even losing ground in their own states. They can’t make any of these threats real and I hope the ICC charges Netanyahu as quick as possible just to spite them.
I don’t know why the ICC should even bother about whatever the US has to say when they even threaten to invade them, while pretty much all civilized countries recognize the ICC. Especially those particular senators, which are kinda the creme de la creme of asocial bullshitters.
I was today years old when I discovered the US is Russia with better PR.
These same senators are responsible for spouting tongs of other of nonsense, I wouldn’t take it too seriously and don’t make up the majority of even the insane wing of the GOP. Not saying this is not a threat that, for example, Trump might make if he gets elected but for now I would take this with a grain of salt. They’re just puffing up their chests for their own base here, as usual.
Tongs?
Here’s the letter from the article if anyone wants to read it (only one page).
The first part is simping for israel, last two paragraphs is where it devolves into literal threats.
That reads like a highschool drama, WTF is the whole world gone coocoo ?
These braindead GOP bastards can go fuck themselves
He doesn’t work for you, he doesn’t answer to you.
Good. I’d love nothing more than the US sanction ICC members and European countries refuse to execute arrest warrants on Israeli officials. This charade of “rules based order” has gone on too long, let them be exposed for what they actually are, hypocrites.
I mean they don’t have control of the house or the Senate.
so how would they do this?
It’s only a matter of time and how long can they hold a grudge.
I think netanyahu should be let out into gaza on his own, just with a water pistol.
No no, let him have real military equipment. Let him feel like a badass until he collapses under the literal weight of it all and is immobilized and left to die
He would be a nice street light decoration, but unfortunately there aren’t many of those left in Gaza.
