Via a commenter, I received this news item of how the US has denied the entry visa of the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court because she had the quaint notion that Americans were subject to the same international laws as people of other countries, especially pertaining to war crimes. She vows to carry on regardless.
US authorities revoked International Criminal Court chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda’s entry visa to the United States, her office and the US State Department confirmed Friday.
“It is our understanding that should not have an impact on the Prosecutor’s travel to the US to meet her obligations to the UN, including regular briefings before the UN Security Council,” her office said in a statement.
“The Office of the Prosecutor has an independent and impartial mandate under the Rome Statute of the ICC. The Prosecutor and her Office will continue to undertake that statutory duty with utmost commitment and professionalism, without fear or favor,” it said.
A State Department spokesperson reiterated that the US would “take the necessary steps to protect its sovereignty and to protect our people from unjust investigation and prosecution by the International Criminal Court (ICC).”
UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said Friday that they “expect the United States to live up to the agreement to allow for the travel of ICC staff members to do their work at the United Nations.”
Of course, for the US any investigations of its possible war crimes is ‘unjust’ because the US, by definition, can do no wrong when it comes to actions in other countries.
Meanwhile, in its further attempts to destabilize the nations of Venezuela and Cuba, the US is seeking to stop oil shipments between the two countries. Vice president Mike Pence was in full hypocritical righteous mode.
The United States on Friday announced sanctions on ships of Venezuela’s state oil company and companies that link it to key ally Cuba, hoping to cut off vital lifelines for President Nicolas Maduro.
Vice President Mike Pence unveiled the latest measures in Washington’s bid to oust Maduro, a leftist firebrand who has nonetheless held on to power for more than two months, and vowed further pressure on Cuba — a bugbear of the United States for a half-century.
“Venezuela’s oil belongs to the Venezuelan people,” Pence said in a speech at Rice University in Houston.
“Those looking on should know this: All options are on the table. And Nicolas Maduro would do well not to test the resolve of the United States of America,” he said.
Pence thinks that “Venezuela’s oil belongs to the Venezuelan people?” So does that mean that all oil and natural gas deposits in the US belong to the American people and not to the private companies that profit off it?
The mentality of the US government is similar to that of the parents in the college cheating scandal, that they are entitled to special privileges over and above all the privileges they already have, and that the rules that apply to others do not apply to them.
The US is a lawless state and everyone knows it. It is only the fact that it is willing to use its military and economic power in punitive ways against any nation that challenges it that prevents most other nations from openly saying so.
sanctions on ships of Venezuela’s state oil company and companies that link it to key ally Cuba
I watch this with wonder. Washington seems to be doing its absolute best to destroy US power.
Every time it comes out with something like this, ingenious/desperate people start working out ways to circumvent the US sanctions and so on. Iran did very well for years dodging US sanctions before the nuclear agreement. Even North Korea has done not all that badly given what seems like a rather mad govt system. O
Both Turkey and India seem to be going ahead with Russian arms purchases despite US threats.
Come to think of it, Cuba is still there after about 60 years of US hostility. Can anyone remember how many US presidents were going to get rid of Fidel Castro while they were in office?
So far, it seems that Iran is working out ways to sell oil to India and China without using the US dollar. Likewise Russia and China seem to be doing so and even the EU is reported to be working out payment systems with Iran that will not open their industries to US retaliation.
One has to assume that Venezuela knew quite well that the ships would be hit by sanctions. But with its major market, the USA, gone what do they care. They are not going to be docking in Houston any time soon. Mexico is unlikely to complain if they dock in Tampico. Or Cuba if they dock in Havana.
I am not sure but what looks like a concentrated US attack on the Venezuelan electrical grid is probably annoying Venezuelans more than it is hurting the Madero govt and probably buying sympathy for Madero and Venezuela in many countries.
I guess the thing to remember is that US neo-cons are incapable of learning.
The innocent have nothing to hide.