Secretary of State Mike Pompeo reacted angrily to the International Criminal Court (ICC) calling to investigate US war crimes, declaring the group “an unaccountable political institution masquerading as a legal body.”



Pompeo said it was reckless to even suggest an investigation after the Afghan peace deal was reached, and vowed the US would take “all necessary measures” to shield US personnel from the investigation.



This is roughly in line with US policy toward war crimes investigations, and in the past the US has threatened military action against the Netherlands, the host of the court, to shield American soldiers from charges.



The US intention is that Americans can’t even be conceivably investigated for their crimes. The US State Department is restricting visas for ICC officials to keep them from coming to the US during investigations.





Author: Jason Ditz Jason Ditz is news editor of Antiwar.com. View all posts by Jason Ditz