When it comes to expressing his goals for the United States, Mike Johnson has never been a subtle man. From trying to abolish no-fault divorce to stripping away reproductive rights, the very religious Trumpian House speaker has always been overt about his political intentions. His most recent statements on Israel and the International Criminal Court are no different.
Earlier this week, Johnson might have unintentionally highlighted what many consider to be the hypocrisy of United States foreign policies while commenting on the recent call for indictments against Israeli leaders. But before I get too ahead of myself, here's the rundown.
On Tuesday, the House voted to sanction the International Criminal Court in response to its prosecutor seeking arrest warrants for Israel's president, Benjamin Netanyahu, and Hamas leaders. Approved by a 247–155 vote, a new bill would restrict the ICC from using the country's banking networks or even entering the US.
However, as editorial fellow Sophie Hurwitz reports, this move is not only a clear retribution against the ICC but another example of the US government attempting to undercut an international body that it helped create, further cementing the nation's "war crimes for me but not for thee" approach to foreign policy. As Hurwitz writes:
The relationship between the ICC and the US has long been complicated. The US was one of seven countries that participated in negotiations leading to the creation of the court. But it also has opted out of the ICC’s judgments. The rulings, which are meant to determine when countries have committed war crimes such as genocide, don’t apply to the US.
This policy, standard for the US over the years—of creating systems to impose laws on others that often do not apply to its own actions—was summed up well in a quote from the recent battle in the House.
“The ICC has to be punished,” said House Speaker Mike Johnson in a press conference Tuesday morning after the court called for arrest warrants for Israel’s president. “We cannot allow this to stand. If the ICC was allowed to do this and go after the leaders of countries whose actions they disagree with, why would they not come after America?”
It truly doesn't get any more blatant than this. You can check out Hurwitz's sharp Mother Jones debut, which breaks down the US's history of undermining the international bodies it helped create, at the link below.
—Arianna Coghill
