The Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) is offering to provide TMC members a briefing on new and concerning developments regarding the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) efforts to investigate U.S. service members and veterans for alleged war crimes relating to Afghanistan. FDD is a nonpartisan and nonprofit think tank that supports U.S. national security and our troops and does not take money from foreign governments. FDD’s Center on Military and Political Power is led by Gulf War hero and former U.S. National Security Advisor LTG (ret). H.R. McMaster.
The U.S. chose not to join the ICC and the court is not accountable to the U.S. Constitution or American voters. What’s more, the rules under which the ICC was established make clear that it is only to investigate crimes committed by nations whose justice systems are “unwilling or unable” to conduct their own investigations.
The US has one of the most credible justice systems in the world and has thoroughly investigated the circumstances in question. The ICC is exceeding its jurisdiction and authority, demanding that Americans surrender sovereignty. This could lead to American military personnel and veterans being arrested, prosecuted, and detained in foreign countries – including in countries that Americans have fought and died to protect, countries that American military personnel defend to this day.
The US government provides no funding to the ICC. However, more than half of the ICC’s annual budget is contributed by a handful of our closest allies – Japan, Germany, the UK, France, Italy, Canada, and Spain. These countries are thus contributing to an ICC investigation of the very same American military that defends them.
To learn more about these disturbing developments and what you can do, you may want to dial into this conference call on Wednesday, April 29 at 1:00pm Eastern Time. If you would like to join, please RSVP by Monday, April 27 by visiting https://fdd.wufoo.com/forms/rxmdv30ucrozj/. FDD will follow-up with those who register with the information to dial-in.
The briefing will be presented by:
- Cliff May, the Founder and President of FDD. He recently published an article on the ICC’s efforts, entitled “Globalists Gone Wild.”
- Orde Kittrie, a senior fellow at FDD and a tenured professor of law and Washington, DC program director for Arizona State University. Orde previously served for ten years as a U.S. State Department attorney and policy official. Orde is the author of Lawfare: Law as a Weapon of War (Oxford University Press, 2016), which describes how America’s adversaries are increasingly using law as a weapon to undermine the United States and our allies.
- Bradley Bowman, Senior Director of FDD’s Center on Military and Political Power, Afghanistan veteran, and winner of The Military Coalition’s Freedom Award. He is a former Army officer, Blackhawk pilot, and Senate staffer who worked with TMC to successfully overturn cost of living allowance cuts for veterans, including those injured in combat.