US fires yet another salvo at the world order

Giving another example of its diplomatic audacity and scorn for international law, the Donald Trump administration has threatened to arrest and sanction judges of the International Criminal Court if they move to charge any US personnel who served in Afghanistan with war crimes.

The threat on Monday came along with the US State Department order to shut down the Palestine Liberation Organization office in Washington over US concerns that the Palestinians might prompt an ICC investigation against Israel for alleged war crimes.

The Hague-based court's mandate is to bring to justice the perpetrators of war crimes and crimes against humanity. Many media reports say prisoners in Afghanistan have been abused and tortured by US forces, which was corroborated by a US federal judge ruling in 2015 which asked Washington to release photographs showing the abuse of detainees in Afghanistan and Iraq.