Politics1 min read

Rubio targets ICC: 'Won't submit to sterile vision of radical judges':

By · Via Middle East Eye · Published by Everything Blog

In short

The administration defended penalties scheduled to take effect in April unless an agreement is reached with the tribunal's supporters. The dispute centers on the court's actions regarding American personnel in Afghanistan alongside arrest warrants issued for Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Secretary Rubio asserted that the administration will not allow outside legal bodies to prosecute American officials or dictate international security operations.

Key points

  • Washington strongly rejects the court's investigations into American personnel in Afghani…: Washington strongly rejects the court's investigations into American personnel in Afghanistan and arrest warrants issued for Israeli leaders.
  • The administration firmly dismissed allegations that its foreign operations against forei…: The administration firmly dismissed allegations that its foreign operations against foreign leaders and suspected drug vessels breached international law.
  • U.S. foreign policy continues to oppose international legal jurisdiction that seeks to en…: U.S. foreign policy continues to oppose international legal jurisdiction that seeks to enforce rulings against American officials and service members.

Sources checked by our analysis pipeline: 1

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has attacked the International Criminal Court (ICC) in a speech to a conservative legal group on Friday, arguing for a muscular foreign policy and against international law restraining US actions.

During his speech to the Federalist Society in Washington, his first prepared remarks since Republicans were routed in the midterm elections on 3 November, Rubio said the goal of the US-Israeli war against Iran was to prevent Tehran from ever developing a nuclear weapon, which he said was particularly urgent because the Islamic Republic's "radical Shia clerics" had an "expansionist mentality."

He contrasted this with the government of North Korea's Kim Jong Un, whom Trump has met three times. "I'm not excusing the terrible things that have happened there," Rubio said of North Korea. "I'm just saying he (Kim) is not expansionist. He's not trying to invade Japan or, you know, China or whatever."

Rubio dismissed criticisms that the Trump administration has broken international law by such actions as seizing Venezuelan then-President Nicolas Maduro and striking boats in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific that…

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