U.S. May Cut Aid Over Court Immunity

Washington has threatened to cut off military aid, including military equipment and training programs, to countries that refuse to grant US citizens immunity from prosecution in the newly formed International Criminal Court. The Bush administration is demanding a written promise, known as an Article 98 agreement, from countries such as Croatia and Lithuania that "no Americans charged in the future with war crimes or other grave offenses would be extradited to the new International Criminal Court." While countries like these may not like the US demands, they desperately need military assistance from the United States. To many, Article 98 agreements reaffirm a supremacy that permits the US – and no other country – to circumvent and supercede multilateral international agreements and institutions. Even the United Nations had to cave to US demands when the US threatened to shut down UN peacekeeping missions if it did not get support on the immunity agreements. – YaleGlobal