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June 28, 2002

Most UN members are in favor of an International Criminal Court (ICC), which would have the power to prosecute citizens of any member nation for war crimes and the like. The US refuses to join because it believes that many of the ICC prosecutions will be more political than criminal and, because the US has more troops on peacekeeping missions, more Americans will be at risk of politically motivated prosecutions. Other nations that contribute peacekeepers are also liable to these problems, but most of these nations are willing to sign on, and then denounce their participation when it suits them. The US tends not to adopt this cynical attitude towards international treaty obligations, which is a major, although unspoken, cause of the current ICC dispute.