After the Nuremberg Trials were largely successful in bestowing collective condemnation on Nazi atrocities during WWII, American public opinion edged toward an internationalist sensibility on basic human rights. Such a mindset was critical to completing the full transformation from isolationism to global leader. If we were going to engage vigorously throughout the planet under the rationale of “spreading democracy,” we had to be mindful of universal truths and open to some form of transnational enforcement when they were grievously violated. It only made sense.
Cambodia, Bosnia, Rwanda, Sudan and most recently Syria all punctuate the glaring failure of international treaties in deterring nation-state criminals from launching pogroms against their fellow citizens. Tragically, “never again” has become a worn and empty trope, a salve on guilt rather than any determinant of commitment to action. Yet and still, as a matter of national understanding, and a guiding ambition, the US has never had any choice other than to exhibit patience if not enthusiasm for international justice. After all, its tenets are reflections of what we have always held our system out to be… intolerant of gross abuses to human freedom. To do any less would tarnish the brand we have been selling since the end of WWII.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) has been operating out of The Hague in the Netherlands since July, 2002, the result of the Rome Statute, which has 124 signatories. The Court follows meticulous guidelines to assess and authorize investigating charges of atrocities. To date, 44 individuals have been indicted in the ICC, including Ugandan rebel leader Joseph Kony, Sudanese president Omar Al Bashir, Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, and Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo, to name a few.
The US has been in Afghanistan and Iraq now almost twice as long as we were in Vietnam. From the start it was acknowledged that fighting fanatics like the Taliban and ISIS was nasty business and would require some rolls in the mud. Over almost two decades some of those forays have been laid bare for public consideration. Abu Ghraib was the most prominent example of the ugliness American personnel were capable of when not provided rigorous structure that demanded accountability. Tales of CIA and Blackwater involvement in torture of captives in Afghanistan, Iraq and “black sites” around the world are a deeply disturbing facet of the war on terror that all previous administrations pledged and sought to demonstrate they were taking seriously. Even though US administrations had problems with treating our people on a par with African strongmen, the importance of at least lip service to accountability was a bipartisan given; our military reflected best practices and abuse was rogue behavior and not tolerated. After all, even though our national interests often lead to moral hypocrisy, it’s never been anything we are proud of. We strive to be better. Until now.
This week the Trump foreign policy braintrust is celebrating a “great victory,” one national security advisor John Bolton termed “the second happiest day of my life.” Trump, too, was jubilant with the “major international victory.” What, one may ask, caused such satisfaction? Some big pact? Maybe a diplomatic breakthrough? Not with this bunch. No, the jubilation is geared toward the ICC’s decision to end an investigation begun in 2016 into alleged crimes against Afghan detainees held by US forces and interrogated by CIA operatives. ICC judges made clear the decision not to proceed had less to do with any innocence of the accused as with the futility of building a case in the face of, not simply a lack of cooperation, but coercive opposition by both US and Afghan authorities. In other words, the ICC’s resources to investigate were overwhelmed by US means for covering up the facts.
Indeed, Trump greeted the decision by declaring any “attempt to target American, Israeli or allied personnel for prosecution will be met with a swift and vigorous response.” It’s been a full team effort diving to the bottom, with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo doing his part last month by promising to deny or revoke visas of any ICC investigators looking into actions by the US or allies. It’s a good bet the President will be touting his cabal’s coordinated success at obfuscation to the wretched core at his next rally.
Of course, both Trump and Pompeo are speaking out of turn as far as European allies go since all are Rome Statute signatories and bound to cooperate with the ICC. The United States was an original participant but pulled out in 2002 in preparation to launch war and occupation. Who did the honors and “unsigned us”? John Bolton…. on what he termed the 1st happiest day of his life. God’s truth!
So, exactly like the Mueller Report and any inquiries into Russian election interference, any talk about US misdeeds abroad are simply “witch hunt” lies which will bring MAGA’s wrath down on the accuser. The ICC now joins countless others on Trump’s enemies list, except when they have something convenient to use against another of our now countless foes. Either way, from extolling how “great” Egypt’s tyrant el-Sisi is doing, to providing pep tweets to Kim, to now equating war crimes investigations with nefarious intentions, we are lurching quickly to the wrong side of history’s tracks. America First is morphing right before us from “sorry, we already gave at the office” to “what are you going to do about it?”
Donald Trump’s brand has never reflected anything other than the most odious traits of the human condition, and it now defines US policy. Being smart means getting away with stuff. Courage is bold-faced lies and attacking accusers. Shared values are a stick to use against those you want to exclude, and moral outrage is whatever works at the moment to tarnish opponents. Truth exists only as some obscure notion to contrast minute-to-minute declarations that inconvenient facts are “fake.” Trumpism flys in the face of everything our national character is supposed to be, far more closely resembling what we heretofore routinely condemned in countries we counted as implacable adversaries. So the only thing shocking about this Administration’s disgusting celebration of formally renouncing the decency we used to claim is our indifference to it. BC