How Russian War Crimes In Ukraine Relate To The Biden Administration.
No, we aren't committing war crimes in Ukraine. The problem is that we're afraid to turn evidence over to the International Criminal Court because it might have consequences given recent history.
Greetings, friends,
Last week, we talked about what the differences between the political terms “Conservative” and “Regressive” are. I’m also obliged to mention that I recently dove back into Dystopian fiction with my Dystopian Review series on Youtube, wherein I reviewed the Warhammer 40K universe.
This week, we’re going to discuss how even “liberal” leaders can be complicit in regressive policies, with a focus on the issue of war crimes, American recalcitrance to join the International Criminal Court, GITMO, and other such bipartisan decisions that, honestly, just shame our nation.
First Of All, What Is A War Crime?
Oh, great; just like last week when we asked for a definition of “conservative,” we’re one question in and we’re getting weird answers. Unlike last week, we don’t necessarily need to extract specific definitions from various sources.
The Oxford Dictionary says that a war crime is “an action carried out during the conduct of a war that violates accepted international rules of war.” It’s a simple definition, but it’s relevant. You’ve probably heard of The Geneva Conventions, for example. You may also have heard of the precedents set by The Nuremberg Trials, which held Nazi leadership accountable for things like The Holocaust.
But how are modern day war crimes tried?
Today, the International Criminal Court (ICC) at The Hague is responsible for trying those accused of war crimes. Anything from torturing POW’s to committing genocidal actions goes straight through The Hague. If and when Vladmir Putin is apprehended and tried for his invasion of Ukraine, that’s where he’d be tried.
But what’s America’s role in it? In this 2022 NPR interview between host Michel Martin and guest John Bellinger III, a Bush Jr. Administration National Security Council legal advisor, the disappointing truth is laid bare: The United States does not submit itself to the ICC.
As much as it pains me to use The Heritage Foundation as a source at all, let alone two weeks in a row, an old article of theirs (archived at The Internet Archive) explains that, while the Clinton administration was a big fan of setting up the ICC, questions about the Constitutionality of submitting U.S. citizens to an international tribunal basically nixed any plans to join up.
What About American War Crimes? Say, GITMO?
You may be familiar with what historians might sarcastically call a “bad day” taking place on September 11th, 2001. The shock of New York City, the Pentagon, and even a field in Pennsylvania being utterly destroyed; the catastrophic loss of life; the long-lasting impact of inhaled poisons. I was sixteen. The attacks took place over half my life ago! But I’m a New Yorker, I lived maybe 45 minutes from the city. I remember that day really well.
I mention this because, well, one understandable - in the abstract - response to such a situation is to be very, very angry. Furious, one might say.
As understandable as fury was, and as reasonable-sounding as the invasion of Afghanistan sounded at the time, it was on the United States to adhere to the laws of war. We were attacked, our attackers were being protected by the Taliban, so it was viewed - right, or wrong - as fair to go after them.
What we did with them when we caught them was fucking atrocious.
For those who don’t know, we transformed our base at Guantanamo Bay (GITMO) into a “detention” center for those we thought were in some way responsible for terrorism. It was really a torture center. As reported by Susan Rinkunas of Jezebel, two men held for over a decade without charges being filed against them confided in a Navy lawyer who was supposed to ensure they were treated humanely. This lawyer, Ron DeSantis, who is in fact the Governor of Florida and a leading Republican presidential candidate, listened to their complaints about being tortured and utterly whitewashed them, making him complicit in crimes against Humanity.
Of course, lest we blame this all on the Republican administration which set GITMO up in the early 2000’s, one Barack Obama ran for and won the Presidency in 2008 on a platform which included shutting down GITMO. In a 2013 article by Jackie Northam of NPR, she pointed out that despite some cursory efforts to close the torture camp down as early as 2009, the Obama administration had failed to actually do so. Arun Rath of PBS reported in 2017 about how Donald Trump - who history surely remembers as just the kindest soul towards Muslims and other minorities - inherited the Obama administration’s remaining prisoners at, and I cannot stress this enough, the torture camp. The one that Obama claimed he would shut down, but for whatever reason could not do over an eight year Presidency.
To me, that’s also complicity with crimes against Humanity.
How About More Recent American War Crimes Issues?
Hooo boy am I just going off about the U.S. being hypocritical about Human Rights, today. I haven’t even mentioned Abu Gharib yet! Well, I guess I just did.
Earlier, I mentioned how Vladimir Putin would be a great candidate to haul in front of The Hague for his war crimes in Ukraine. It turns out the United States Department of Defense, centered at The Pentagon, has some evidence it could turn over to bring that one tiny step closer to happening. I say it could turn it over, because according to Julian Borger of The Guardian, we’re just…Not gonna do that.
The Biden Administration is too worried that this evidence might create some kind of precedent that applies to U.S., well…I guess U.S. war criminals? I mean, even Republican Senator Lindsay Graham - who, like Donald Trump, will surely be remembered as a kind and loving soul - wants this information turned over to the ICC. But Biden is waffling-at-best, and malicious at worst.
To be clear, withholding this evidence is complicity in crimes against Humanity.
What’s The Solution?
Well, obviously, the solution roadmap would look a little something like this.
Start by turning over the evidence against Russia in general and Putin in particular.
Begin the process of joining the International Criminal Court.
Turn over any U.S. war criminals to The Hague.
Will that happen? Ahhh, but here’s where our article from last week comes back into focus. I know some people have been so kind as to essentially call Biden a Progressive, but when it comes to this he is really a Conservative. We can’t even really call him a Regressive because there’s nothing there to regress to. I mean, do we regress to before the Nuremberg Trials? Is that a thing?
The fact that joining the ICC requires signing ourselves to a treaty means it would have to go through the Senate, which is barely-at-all held by Democrats, suggests that we aren’t joining it any time soon. I don’t know for sure whether treaties are subject to the filibuster, but if they are? Just forget it.
Ultimately, though, it falls upon all of us to insist that whoever is in charge will hold our country accountable to the most basic of Human Rights standards. If that’s not going to be Joe Biden, as it seems it won’t be, then we need someone else to step up and primary him.
This is one of the most basic tests of how our nation performs as a non-nightmarish society, and we cannot fail it.
Thank you for reading The Progressive Cafe. If this article has helped you, please consider signing up for our mailing list. This article is by Jesse Pohlman, a sci-fi/fantasy author from Long Island, New York, whose website you can check out here.