1 00:00:00,240 --> 00:00:04,720 Speaker 1: From UFOs to psychic powers and government conspiracies. History is 2 00:00:04,800 --> 00:00:09,119 Speaker 1: riddled with unexplained events. You can turn back now or 3 00:00:09,200 --> 00:00:12,079 Speaker 1: learn the stuff they don't want you to know. A 4 00:00:12,240 --> 00:00:25,400 Speaker 1: production of I Heart Brading. Welcome back to the show. 5 00:00:25,680 --> 00:00:29,120 Speaker 1: My name is Matt, my name is Null. They called 6 00:00:29,120 --> 00:00:32,000 Speaker 1: me Ben. We're joined as always with our super producer 7 00:00:32,159 --> 00:00:36,599 Speaker 1: Paull Mission controlled decade. Most importantly, you are you. You 8 00:00:36,640 --> 00:00:40,040 Speaker 1: are here, and that makes this the stuff they don't 9 00:00:40,200 --> 00:00:44,760 Speaker 1: want you to know, folks. Today's episode is about Well, 10 00:00:45,560 --> 00:00:48,959 Speaker 1: here's the thing. It's definitely not a conspiracy theory. It's 11 00:00:49,000 --> 00:00:53,960 Speaker 1: an actual conspiracy, and it's one whose legality depends on 12 00:00:54,080 --> 00:00:58,600 Speaker 1: who you're asking. It's also, weirdly enough, unlike many conspiracies, 13 00:00:58,640 --> 00:01:02,400 Speaker 1: it's one right out in the open without spoiling it. 14 00:01:02,720 --> 00:01:05,520 Speaker 1: We should we should begin, as the Mad Hatter said 15 00:01:05,520 --> 00:01:08,160 Speaker 1: at the beginning of the story. So to do that, 16 00:01:08,319 --> 00:01:12,560 Speaker 1: let's start with something called the International Criminal Court and 17 00:01:12,840 --> 00:01:15,840 Speaker 1: a little city called the Hague, or at least that's 18 00:01:15,840 --> 00:01:18,920 Speaker 1: how we pronounce it here in the States. Here are 19 00:01:19,160 --> 00:01:23,399 Speaker 1: the facts. So the International Criminal Court, which is often 20 00:01:23,520 --> 00:01:27,280 Speaker 1: shorthanded as the I s C, is in theory the 21 00:01:27,400 --> 00:01:30,959 Speaker 1: first court for the entire world. You know, Usually supreme 22 00:01:31,000 --> 00:01:36,080 Speaker 1: courts only govern individual countries. They can only preside over 23 00:01:36,120 --> 00:01:39,479 Speaker 1: their own respective nations. This court, on the other hand, 24 00:01:39,560 --> 00:01:43,440 Speaker 1: is the first and only permanent international court fixture, uh, 25 00:01:43,680 --> 00:01:48,120 Speaker 1: meaning that it has in theory jurisdiction to prosecute individual 26 00:01:48,280 --> 00:01:53,240 Speaker 1: human people for international crimes. But there's a very specific 27 00:01:53,280 --> 00:01:57,360 Speaker 1: criteria for the types of crimes that it can prosecute, uh, 28 00:01:57,400 --> 00:02:02,800 Speaker 1: specifically the crimes of genocide, times against humanity, at war crimes, 29 00:02:02,920 --> 00:02:05,840 Speaker 1: and the crime of aggression. Yeah. And it should be 30 00:02:05,880 --> 00:02:10,160 Speaker 1: noted that this is different from another international court of 31 00:02:10,200 --> 00:02:12,480 Speaker 1: sorts that you may have heard of that has to 32 00:02:12,520 --> 00:02:14,640 Speaker 1: do with the U n That one's called the Court 33 00:02:14,720 --> 00:02:17,880 Speaker 1: of Justice. Um. And you know, if you when you 34 00:02:17,919 --> 00:02:21,040 Speaker 1: think about that one, it's kind of like handling dispute. 35 00:02:21,040 --> 00:02:23,799 Speaker 1: It's not a lesser court necessarily, but it's handling disputes 36 00:02:23,840 --> 00:02:26,919 Speaker 1: between countries. It's not to be confused with the Justice League. 37 00:02:27,080 --> 00:02:33,440 Speaker 1: That's uh, that's fictional super you know, Godrey, Yeah, Yeah, 38 00:02:33,600 --> 00:02:38,839 Speaker 1: it's an important difference. So for instance, if you are um, 39 00:02:38,960 --> 00:02:42,040 Speaker 1: what's for an easy one, if you are Mexico and 40 00:02:42,120 --> 00:02:45,280 Speaker 1: you are beefed up, if you're beefing it with Canada, 41 00:02:45,760 --> 00:02:50,160 Speaker 1: then you would reasonably go to the International Court of Justice. 42 00:02:50,639 --> 00:02:55,720 Speaker 1: But if you are a terrible individual, uh like Ricky 43 00:02:55,840 --> 00:03:02,000 Speaker 1: Spanish the pseudonym of Roger from from uh from uh oh, 44 00:03:02,000 --> 00:03:08,919 Speaker 1: what's American American family? American American dad? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, 45 00:03:09,000 --> 00:03:13,320 Speaker 1: yeah yeah, the lovable alien who has a horrific alter 46 00:03:13,440 --> 00:03:16,640 Speaker 1: ego named Ricky Spanish. If you're a very very bad person, 47 00:03:16,760 --> 00:03:18,639 Speaker 1: then you end up again, as you said, an old 48 00:03:18,639 --> 00:03:22,040 Speaker 1: in theory, at the International Criminal Court. Now, the i 49 00:03:22,280 --> 00:03:27,200 Speaker 1: c C is pretty young. It was created in night 50 00:03:27,520 --> 00:03:30,399 Speaker 1: through the signing of something called the Rome Statute, which 51 00:03:30,480 --> 00:03:32,959 Speaker 1: laid out, here's what the i sec is going to be. 52 00:03:32,960 --> 00:03:35,800 Speaker 1: Because the UN and many other international bodies love a 53 00:03:35,880 --> 00:03:38,160 Speaker 1: lot of paperwork. But didn't it take a long time 54 00:03:38,240 --> 00:03:40,200 Speaker 1: for that to even get like ratified. I mean, the 55 00:03:40,280 --> 00:03:44,800 Speaker 1: actual statute was was created and like the late eighties 56 00:03:44,840 --> 00:03:47,880 Speaker 1: even wasn't it. Well, they got they got to they 57 00:03:47,920 --> 00:03:52,160 Speaker 1: got to the agreement. They finally decided on the ingredients 58 00:03:52,160 --> 00:03:55,680 Speaker 1: of their pizza, you know, in so if we think 59 00:03:55,680 --> 00:03:58,560 Speaker 1: of it that way, that's when they called in the delivery. 60 00:03:58,680 --> 00:04:01,320 Speaker 1: And then fast forward a few years. It's July one, 61 00:04:01,400 --> 00:04:06,120 Speaker 1: two thousand two. The delivery has come right. It is 62 00:04:06,200 --> 00:04:09,800 Speaker 1: the i c C, and all the countries that were 63 00:04:09,920 --> 00:04:14,960 Speaker 1: part of this Rome Statute automatically become members of the 64 00:04:15,000 --> 00:04:18,039 Speaker 1: i c C, which gives them certain powers. They can 65 00:04:18,080 --> 00:04:21,080 Speaker 1: team up. It gives them, i would say, rights and responsibilities. 66 00:04:21,360 --> 00:04:24,599 Speaker 1: They can team up to say, hey, prosecute this jerk, 67 00:04:25,200 --> 00:04:28,520 Speaker 1: or they can try to bring their own case. Uh. 68 00:04:28,560 --> 00:04:32,120 Speaker 1: They also are under the jurisdiction of the i c C, 69 00:04:32,279 --> 00:04:37,159 Speaker 1: which is a big, big deal. Before we really dive in, folks, 70 00:04:37,200 --> 00:04:40,240 Speaker 1: just to be clear, whether you've heard of this before, 71 00:04:40,279 --> 00:04:42,800 Speaker 1: you don't know it from a can of paint. The 72 00:04:42,920 --> 00:04:47,440 Speaker 1: majority of the world, of the majority of countries on 73 00:04:47,480 --> 00:04:51,000 Speaker 1: the planet, have agreed it's a good idea to hold 74 00:04:51,360 --> 00:04:55,080 Speaker 1: monsters accountable. And as of March of this year, there 75 00:04:55,080 --> 00:04:59,880 Speaker 1: were a hundred and twenty three members member states countries 76 00:05:00,040 --> 00:05:03,159 Speaker 1: of the i c C. UH. Forty two never signed, 77 00:05:03,320 --> 00:05:06,760 Speaker 1: never became parties, and a few countries, as we'll see, 78 00:05:07,000 --> 00:05:09,200 Speaker 1: we're kind of down in the beginning. They were down 79 00:05:09,200 --> 00:05:12,040 Speaker 1: to clown, but then they backed out. Just weren't jugg 80 00:05:12,120 --> 00:05:15,680 Speaker 1: low enough for this kind of justice. Justice low, I 81 00:05:15,720 --> 00:05:18,640 Speaker 1: don't know, yeah, yeah, And we're in the justice we're 82 00:05:18,640 --> 00:05:23,280 Speaker 1: talking about. Isn't justice for some crime that you know you, 83 00:05:23,560 --> 00:05:27,039 Speaker 1: let's say, even as bad as you murder someone, Yeah, 84 00:05:27,040 --> 00:05:30,680 Speaker 1: you can't. You're not one person. No, no, no, it's 85 00:05:30,680 --> 00:05:33,440 Speaker 1: more like trying to wipe out an entire race, you know, 86 00:05:33,680 --> 00:05:37,680 Speaker 1: like like like total like lex luthor type crimes, like serious, 87 00:05:37,720 --> 00:05:42,600 Speaker 1: big pictures, supervillain crimes. Yeah. And it's generally an individual 88 00:05:42,680 --> 00:05:45,520 Speaker 1: who has the power to mobilize a bunch of other 89 00:05:45,600 --> 00:05:49,839 Speaker 1: individuals to do something right. And that's generally you. You 90 00:05:50,080 --> 00:05:52,719 Speaker 1: you try and hold the person accountable who actually made 91 00:05:52,839 --> 00:05:56,040 Speaker 1: those moves happen. And the burden of proof for a 92 00:05:56,080 --> 00:06:00,240 Speaker 1: lot of these things can be very high. You know, 93 00:06:00,400 --> 00:06:04,440 Speaker 1: just imagine, imagine the bureaucracy if you for anyone who 94 00:06:04,440 --> 00:06:08,000 Speaker 1: lives in the US, imagine, Uh, you live in California 95 00:06:08,120 --> 00:06:11,400 Speaker 1: and you get a speeding ticket in Louisiana and you 96 00:06:11,480 --> 00:06:14,919 Speaker 1: have to navigate those two different court systems. This is 97 00:06:14,960 --> 00:06:18,880 Speaker 1: a magnitude several magnitudes beyond that. Uh, And you can't 98 00:06:18,920 --> 00:06:21,880 Speaker 1: get there if you're listening to this because your dream 99 00:06:21,960 --> 00:06:25,120 Speaker 1: is to be tried by the I SEC. Listen, don't 100 00:06:25,200 --> 00:06:27,440 Speaker 1: do it, you don't want it. It's gonna take forever, 101 00:06:27,880 --> 00:06:29,799 Speaker 1: and it's gonna be a lot of work for you. 102 00:06:29,800 --> 00:06:32,440 Speaker 1: You can't go to the i c C just for 103 00:06:32,920 --> 00:06:36,000 Speaker 1: selling dime bags or racking up parking tickets. You have 104 00:06:36,080 --> 00:06:39,719 Speaker 1: to move horror in wait. Uh, this is, by its 105 00:06:39,720 --> 00:06:44,040 Speaker 1: own description, a court of last resort. To your point, Matt, 106 00:06:44,080 --> 00:06:49,960 Speaker 1: the idea of powerful people, real life supervillains being prosecuted. Uh, 107 00:06:50,160 --> 00:06:53,960 Speaker 1: this court exists because the world finally acknowledged that in 108 00:06:54,040 --> 00:06:59,520 Speaker 1: many cases, these people's home countries seem unable or unwilling 109 00:07:00,000 --> 00:07:04,000 Speaker 1: who prosecute these folks because more often than not, they 110 00:07:04,080 --> 00:07:07,479 Speaker 1: also have their finger on the on the scale of 111 00:07:07,520 --> 00:07:11,960 Speaker 1: their own countries justice system. They've corrupted it, They've rotted 112 00:07:11,960 --> 00:07:15,119 Speaker 1: it out like old wooden planks. And often the person 113 00:07:15,160 --> 00:07:19,480 Speaker 1: who was being prosecutor or the other another country or 114 00:07:19,480 --> 00:07:21,880 Speaker 1: a group of countries are seeking to prosecute. Would you, 115 00:07:21,920 --> 00:07:24,160 Speaker 1: as you said, Ben, have the power to maybe even 116 00:07:24,200 --> 00:07:27,200 Speaker 1: just prevent that core from doing anything by with brute 117 00:07:27,240 --> 00:07:30,440 Speaker 1: force or even one of the things that's put in 118 00:07:30,520 --> 00:07:34,720 Speaker 1: their aggression. They would just use their internal aggression to 119 00:07:34,840 --> 00:07:38,040 Speaker 1: prevent it from happening, just to arrest the judge. Follow 120 00:07:38,160 --> 00:07:40,800 Speaker 1: us for more tips on being a dictator. Well and 121 00:07:40,840 --> 00:07:44,080 Speaker 1: you know, not to get to overly political right upfront, 122 00:07:44,120 --> 00:07:48,800 Speaker 1: but it's like there are ways that this country, even 123 00:07:48,880 --> 00:07:51,840 Speaker 1: over the past handful of years, has inched towards those 124 00:07:51,840 --> 00:07:56,520 Speaker 1: types of criteria with certain Supreme Court appointments that have 125 00:07:57,160 --> 00:07:59,640 Speaker 1: made it all. But it's a sure thing that certain 126 00:07:59,800 --> 00:08:03,000 Speaker 1: agendas will be followed. So while like the Supreme Court 127 00:08:03,120 --> 00:08:06,640 Speaker 1: is meant to uphold this neutral kind of position and 128 00:08:06,840 --> 00:08:10,080 Speaker 1: be able to prosecute people like that for crimes like 129 00:08:10,120 --> 00:08:13,080 Speaker 1: we're talking about, uh, there are certain things that have 130 00:08:13,200 --> 00:08:16,679 Speaker 1: made that a little more difficult, where our own legal 131 00:08:16,720 --> 00:08:19,960 Speaker 1: system is a little hamstrung um, which would make it 132 00:08:20,080 --> 00:08:24,760 Speaker 1: very helpful for a kind of neutral extra judicial body 133 00:08:24,800 --> 00:08:27,280 Speaker 1: to be able to sweep in and say, hey, you're 134 00:08:27,320 --> 00:08:29,119 Speaker 1: not going to do the right thing, so we're gonna 135 00:08:29,120 --> 00:08:32,080 Speaker 1: do it for you. If you think about anyone who 136 00:08:32,080 --> 00:08:34,960 Speaker 1: holds the office of president or even really close to 137 00:08:35,120 --> 00:08:37,800 Speaker 1: that office here in the US, often they are given 138 00:08:37,840 --> 00:08:41,280 Speaker 1: a certain type of immunity, a very specialized immunity from 139 00:08:41,440 --> 00:08:43,839 Speaker 1: actions taken while they're in office, at least from being 140 00:08:43,840 --> 00:08:46,680 Speaker 1: prosecuted by the United States. Right, So if you just 141 00:08:46,720 --> 00:08:48,840 Speaker 1: take that as an example and you think about in 142 00:08:48,880 --> 00:08:51,920 Speaker 1: the context that we're discussing right now. Many countries have 143 00:08:52,200 --> 00:08:56,880 Speaker 1: like protections for their highest levels of office, right their leaders. 144 00:08:57,559 --> 00:09:00,600 Speaker 1: And that's why something like the International Criminal Court seems 145 00:09:00,640 --> 00:09:03,720 Speaker 1: to be a really good idea because even if that 146 00:09:03,920 --> 00:09:07,080 Speaker 1: internal country decides it's not gonna do anything or can't 147 00:09:07,080 --> 00:09:10,480 Speaker 1: do anything, somebody else can step in. And to my knowledge, 148 00:09:10,480 --> 00:09:12,800 Speaker 1: I mean, Ben, correct me if I'm wrong, Like, are 149 00:09:12,840 --> 00:09:16,680 Speaker 1: there limits to the power of a presidential pardon? Like 150 00:09:17,040 --> 00:09:19,640 Speaker 1: it always seems kind of willy nilly to me in 151 00:09:19,760 --> 00:09:23,840 Speaker 1: terms of what that covers, Like, are there like crimes 152 00:09:23,880 --> 00:09:27,080 Speaker 1: that are even too egregious to be worthy of a 153 00:09:27,120 --> 00:09:31,840 Speaker 1: presidential pardon. It's a good question, and it's what I'm 154 00:09:31,880 --> 00:09:34,920 Speaker 1: really glad you asked this, because we all know if 155 00:09:34,920 --> 00:09:39,280 Speaker 1: you pay attention to US administrations, we all know, and 156 00:09:39,320 --> 00:09:42,360 Speaker 1: there are certain cyclical things that happen, especially if a 157 00:09:42,440 --> 00:09:46,719 Speaker 1: president doesn't win re election. And one of the funniest 158 00:09:46,760 --> 00:09:50,400 Speaker 1: things is there's this fire sale on pardons and I 159 00:09:50,440 --> 00:09:54,160 Speaker 1: am using the word cell. Unfortunately, there's a fire sale 160 00:09:54,240 --> 00:09:58,679 Speaker 1: on pardons towards the end of an administration. The idea 161 00:09:58,720 --> 00:10:03,560 Speaker 1: of whether or not a president can pardon anything is 162 00:10:03,800 --> 00:10:09,360 Speaker 1: kind of up to um Okay, it's kind of up 163 00:10:09,400 --> 00:10:13,600 Speaker 1: to whether or not people push back. Like we had 164 00:10:13,640 --> 00:10:16,440 Speaker 1: another we had an episode a few years ago. Can 165 00:10:16,440 --> 00:10:20,440 Speaker 1: a president pardon themselves which led to a fascinating, like 166 00:10:20,640 --> 00:10:25,320 Speaker 1: regimant role of weirdness. As far as I've seen, there 167 00:10:25,400 --> 00:10:29,400 Speaker 1: haven't been and check us on this full of conspiracy realists, 168 00:10:29,440 --> 00:10:32,480 Speaker 1: there haven't been. There have been big stinks in the 169 00:10:32,520 --> 00:10:36,000 Speaker 1: court of public opinion when a president has pardoned someone 170 00:10:36,080 --> 00:10:39,240 Speaker 1: who clearly did something and it was clearly something bad, 171 00:10:40,120 --> 00:10:45,440 Speaker 1: But there haven't been presidential pardons that have been kicked 172 00:10:45,480 --> 00:10:49,040 Speaker 1: back by another court. The president has very broad constitutional 173 00:10:49,080 --> 00:10:51,679 Speaker 1: powers in that regard well, and usually it's a it's 174 00:10:51,679 --> 00:10:55,080 Speaker 1: gets a political maneuver. You know, when you do those 175 00:10:55,200 --> 00:10:58,559 Speaker 1: kinds of pardons, there's a certain amount of political capital 176 00:10:58,559 --> 00:11:01,360 Speaker 1: that you're expending, whether it's or your party, you know, 177 00:11:01,679 --> 00:11:05,440 Speaker 1: or or yourself or you know, potential future re election 178 00:11:05,559 --> 00:11:08,640 Speaker 1: or future ability to exercise influence. You know, if a 179 00:11:08,679 --> 00:11:13,000 Speaker 1: president exercises a pardon that the entire country and or 180 00:11:13,160 --> 00:11:17,560 Speaker 1: world sees as completely egregious and self serving, then that 181 00:11:17,640 --> 00:11:21,600 Speaker 1: you know, burned some pretty serious political capital. Yeah, and 182 00:11:21,600 --> 00:11:24,600 Speaker 1: and again we're talking in this case, we're talking specifically 183 00:11:24,600 --> 00:11:28,040 Speaker 1: about the US. If you're not from the US, you're 184 00:11:28,040 --> 00:11:32,120 Speaker 1: gonna love this because it's wild. If you're president, one 185 00:11:32,160 --> 00:11:35,040 Speaker 1: of the side benefits is that you can pardon any 186 00:11:35,080 --> 00:11:37,839 Speaker 1: family member that you want. You can be like, ah 187 00:11:38,000 --> 00:11:43,600 Speaker 1: my weird uncle, um uncle Beauregard or whatever. Uh, yeah, 188 00:11:43,840 --> 00:11:46,320 Speaker 1: he smoked that meth. But he's a good guy at heart. 189 00:11:46,440 --> 00:11:50,080 Speaker 1: Just don't leave him unattended around copper and you know, 190 00:11:50,160 --> 00:11:54,000 Speaker 1: let him go his own way, just like that Fleetwood 191 00:11:54,040 --> 00:11:57,840 Speaker 1: Max song. But the one to amend what I was saying, amend. 192 00:11:58,440 --> 00:12:01,640 Speaker 1: One of the one big oh no for any presidential 193 00:12:01,679 --> 00:12:06,120 Speaker 1: pardon is if someone is impeached. If if they have 194 00:12:06,360 --> 00:12:11,600 Speaker 1: been impeached, you can't undo that because that's other. That's 195 00:12:11,600 --> 00:12:17,200 Speaker 1: a decision by um other other high level government members. Also, 196 00:12:17,240 --> 00:12:21,959 Speaker 1: you can't pardon for future crimes, right like, it's only 197 00:12:22,000 --> 00:12:25,400 Speaker 1: for something very specific that has already taken place. As 198 00:12:25,480 --> 00:12:27,520 Speaker 1: much as you can be folks good would like to 199 00:12:27,559 --> 00:12:30,120 Speaker 1: think they can do that. I know, like just tag 200 00:12:30,160 --> 00:12:32,719 Speaker 1: base forever. I love that. Who do I have to 201 00:12:32,800 --> 00:12:36,800 Speaker 1: write to, dear uncle Joe. I've got some stuff coming 202 00:12:36,880 --> 00:12:41,680 Speaker 1: up in a few years. This is preemptively Yeah, give 203 00:12:41,679 --> 00:12:43,120 Speaker 1: me a give me a get out a jail free 204 00:12:43,120 --> 00:12:45,520 Speaker 1: card for that. Can we just really quickly define some 205 00:12:45,720 --> 00:12:50,000 Speaker 1: terms those specific things that the I c C can pretend, 206 00:12:50,040 --> 00:12:52,520 Speaker 1: you know, theoretically prosecute because I don't know that everyone 207 00:12:52,559 --> 00:12:54,920 Speaker 1: they're they're not entirely clear on on the on the 208 00:12:54,920 --> 00:12:59,240 Speaker 1: face of them. Yeah, perfect, So genocide. We also have 209 00:12:59,320 --> 00:13:03,320 Speaker 1: an episode on that genocide becomes very surprisingly enough, I 210 00:13:03,320 --> 00:13:07,440 Speaker 1: think the common person, we can all all thinking minds 211 00:13:07,480 --> 00:13:12,559 Speaker 1: can agree on what genocide is. But legally there are 212 00:13:12,600 --> 00:13:15,520 Speaker 1: there are a lot of interested parties who go back 213 00:13:15,559 --> 00:13:19,640 Speaker 1: on and forth on what they think is proper to 214 00:13:19,720 --> 00:13:22,920 Speaker 1: be called genocide. But as I think we pretty neatly 215 00:13:22,960 --> 00:13:27,840 Speaker 1: defined it just earlier, it is the mass uh, the 216 00:13:27,920 --> 00:13:32,720 Speaker 1: mass murder of people who have nothing in common except 217 00:13:32,800 --> 00:13:37,800 Speaker 1: for one thing, a racial characteristic, um and ethnic identity. 218 00:13:37,960 --> 00:13:42,000 Speaker 1: Most often crimes of aggression. That might be a little 219 00:13:42,000 --> 00:13:45,400 Speaker 1: bit confusing for people because you can say many crimes 220 00:13:45,559 --> 00:13:49,440 Speaker 1: are crimes of aggression, but a crime of yeah, but 221 00:13:50,400 --> 00:13:52,720 Speaker 1: you'll hear it also called a crime against peace. What 222 00:13:52,840 --> 00:13:58,719 Speaker 1: it basically means is using state military force to do 223 00:13:58,840 --> 00:14:02,719 Speaker 1: something that is not a response. That's why that's why 224 00:14:02,760 --> 00:14:07,480 Speaker 1: world powers are very careful to phrase their actions as responses, 225 00:14:07,600 --> 00:14:10,360 Speaker 1: even in the case of Russia and Ukraine right now well, 226 00:14:10,360 --> 00:14:12,360 Speaker 1: and of course they can be found later to be 227 00:14:12,679 --> 00:14:16,160 Speaker 1: false pretenses. You know, you can wage a war a 228 00:14:16,280 --> 00:14:18,439 Speaker 1: claim that you're protecting yourself and then it is later 229 00:14:18,480 --> 00:14:20,760 Speaker 1: determined that it was either some sort of false flag 230 00:14:21,200 --> 00:14:24,040 Speaker 1: incident or it was just you were fudging the facts 231 00:14:24,080 --> 00:14:28,640 Speaker 1: a little bit about what actually transpired in the attempt 232 00:14:28,720 --> 00:14:32,960 Speaker 1: to illegally wage war. And so another one that might 233 00:14:33,000 --> 00:14:35,360 Speaker 1: be a little vague for a lot of us is 234 00:14:35,600 --> 00:14:42,120 Speaker 1: crimes against humanity. That's very different from purposely dropping an 235 00:14:42,280 --> 00:14:46,280 Speaker 1: SPD in a crowded elevator knowing people can't move. A 236 00:14:46,360 --> 00:14:50,160 Speaker 1: crime against humanity is more broad than a crime of 237 00:14:50,200 --> 00:14:55,920 Speaker 1: aggression or a crime of crime of genocide. It's a 238 00:14:56,040 --> 00:15:00,840 Speaker 1: large scale persecution or atrocity against the body of people 239 00:15:01,000 --> 00:15:06,520 Speaker 1: not necessarily linked by commonality a self identifying or identify commonality. 240 00:15:06,720 --> 00:15:10,800 Speaker 1: And then war crimes. War crimes are an episode of 241 00:15:10,840 --> 00:15:14,480 Speaker 1: their own, of which this is a part Before we 242 00:15:14,520 --> 00:15:16,600 Speaker 1: move on, though, there's one thing I don't want to 243 00:15:16,640 --> 00:15:21,000 Speaker 1: get lost in this conversation. A presidential pardon can be preemptive. 244 00:15:21,680 --> 00:15:25,680 Speaker 1: You can do so just like Richard Nixon was pre 245 00:15:25,760 --> 00:15:31,440 Speaker 1: emptively pardoned. It's just kind of unusual. Gerald Ford said, Okay, 246 00:15:31,560 --> 00:15:36,120 Speaker 1: let's move on from this show. Uh, and gave gave 247 00:15:36,160 --> 00:15:38,800 Speaker 1: Tricky Dick a get out of jail free card. Literally, 248 00:15:39,120 --> 00:15:41,920 Speaker 1: would you say that one thing that these criteria have 249 00:15:42,000 --> 00:15:44,360 Speaker 1: in common is that they all sort of rally around 250 00:15:44,360 --> 00:15:48,160 Speaker 1: the idea of morals, the idea of respect for human 251 00:15:48,200 --> 00:15:51,880 Speaker 1: life in some way. That like that that's the broader understanding, 252 00:15:51,960 --> 00:15:55,920 Speaker 1: is that we have some centralized agreement upon what the 253 00:15:56,040 --> 00:15:59,720 Speaker 1: value of human life is. Yeah, there's the idea that 254 00:16:00,040 --> 00:16:06,280 Speaker 1: the uh, they're all large scale effects, right, there's Unfortunately, 255 00:16:06,520 --> 00:16:14,080 Speaker 1: as as horrendous as torture mutilation is, it's it is 256 00:16:14,120 --> 00:16:17,840 Speaker 1: a measure of large scale effects. So if you torture 257 00:16:17,880 --> 00:16:21,640 Speaker 1: one person, you're not going to the I C c UH. 258 00:16:21,800 --> 00:16:25,560 Speaker 1: You should not torture anybody. Check out our I'm not 259 00:16:25,600 --> 00:16:28,320 Speaker 1: going to spend the whole episode just referencing earlier episodes, 260 00:16:28,360 --> 00:16:31,600 Speaker 1: but check out our our examination of whether torture works. 261 00:16:31,880 --> 00:16:36,080 Speaker 1: It doesn't spoiler us or it doesn't get people to 262 00:16:36,120 --> 00:16:38,400 Speaker 1: tell you the truth. Well, and when you make it 263 00:16:38,440 --> 00:16:42,120 Speaker 1: a policy to call torture is something different like it 264 00:16:42,240 --> 00:16:45,880 Speaker 1: enhanced interrogation technique and then use that on hundreds and 265 00:16:45,960 --> 00:16:49,400 Speaker 1: hundreds of people. You probably don't want to have the 266 00:16:49,440 --> 00:16:53,640 Speaker 1: International Court coming down on you, so you do everything 267 00:16:53,640 --> 00:16:56,600 Speaker 1: you can to make sure you're you're good. Well, we're 268 00:16:56,600 --> 00:16:59,280 Speaker 1: getting to with those those those member nations and the 269 00:16:59,280 --> 00:17:02,640 Speaker 1: ones that UH didn't want to play at the end 270 00:17:02,680 --> 00:17:04,840 Speaker 1: of the day. UH. We talked about this in a 271 00:17:04,920 --> 00:17:07,880 Speaker 1: recent Strange News or perhaps listener mail where somebody wrote 272 00:17:07,880 --> 00:17:10,560 Speaker 1: in um whose name is escaping me? Please forgive me 273 00:17:10,600 --> 00:17:13,920 Speaker 1: just about UH taking a trip to the Hague or 274 00:17:13,960 --> 00:17:16,119 Speaker 1: teaching their students about the Hague and the fact that 275 00:17:16,560 --> 00:17:19,960 Speaker 1: the US is one of those abstaining members UH, And 276 00:17:20,080 --> 00:17:23,240 Speaker 1: that calls into question why why would you not want 277 00:17:23,280 --> 00:17:24,959 Speaker 1: to be a part of this? Ben you mentioned that 278 00:17:25,040 --> 00:17:27,080 Speaker 1: most of the countries of the world think this is 279 00:17:27,119 --> 00:17:29,720 Speaker 1: a good idea, So it begs the question, if you 280 00:17:29,760 --> 00:17:32,040 Speaker 1: don't think it's a good idea, what are you trying 281 00:17:32,080 --> 00:17:35,600 Speaker 1: to uh prevent? What are you trying to not hide? 282 00:17:35,640 --> 00:17:38,600 Speaker 1: But why don't you want to have the eye of 283 00:17:38,640 --> 00:17:43,119 Speaker 1: this body on you? It's good foreshadowing, especially considering that 284 00:17:43,200 --> 00:17:46,720 Speaker 1: the i c C is also purposely hamstrung. It can 285 00:17:46,840 --> 00:17:51,000 Speaker 1: only investigate and prosecute crimes that are quote and this 286 00:17:51,040 --> 00:17:55,040 Speaker 1: is directly from them, folks committed within Member states, crimes 287 00:17:55,080 --> 00:17:59,399 Speaker 1: committed by nationals of member states, or crimes in situations 288 00:17:59,600 --> 00:18:03,760 Speaker 1: refer to the court by the United Nations Security Council. 289 00:18:04,040 --> 00:18:06,640 Speaker 1: The United Nations, the u n s C the big 290 00:18:06,680 --> 00:18:10,480 Speaker 1: winners of World War two, basically, Uh. They are the 291 00:18:10,520 --> 00:18:13,680 Speaker 1: ones who call the shots in a very real way 292 00:18:13,680 --> 00:18:17,600 Speaker 1: in the UN. Uh. You know it should be surprising. 293 00:18:17,920 --> 00:18:23,120 Speaker 1: The I SEC has a lot of controversy, accusations of racism, bias, 294 00:18:23,800 --> 00:18:28,399 Speaker 1: accusations of what's called eurocentrism, which is meaning only paying 295 00:18:28,440 --> 00:18:34,400 Speaker 1: attention to the needs of UM Western European nations, Western 296 00:18:34,440 --> 00:18:38,920 Speaker 1: Central European nations basically UH. And then, as you might imagine, 297 00:18:39,000 --> 00:18:42,280 Speaker 1: there are a lot of countries, especially if a dictator 298 00:18:42,840 --> 00:18:45,919 Speaker 1: or powerful supervillain has their thumbs on the scale, there 299 00:18:45,920 --> 00:18:47,879 Speaker 1: are a lot of countries that will say the I 300 00:18:48,040 --> 00:18:50,639 Speaker 1: s C is not fair when it comes to the 301 00:18:50,720 --> 00:18:55,520 Speaker 1: cases it selects, or it goes past its jurisdiction, or hey, 302 00:18:55,680 --> 00:18:59,120 Speaker 1: it's not effective at all in the first place. And 303 00:18:59,280 --> 00:19:02,919 Speaker 1: if you look how overloaded your court system is in 304 00:19:02,960 --> 00:19:05,840 Speaker 1: your neck of the global woods, you might be surprised 305 00:19:05,840 --> 00:19:09,320 Speaker 1: to find just how few cases the i c C 306 00:19:09,600 --> 00:19:13,760 Speaker 1: is actually followed up on in in its two decades 307 00:19:13,960 --> 00:19:17,520 Speaker 1: in action. I'm just saying it makes sense. These accusations 308 00:19:17,560 --> 00:19:20,040 Speaker 1: make sense, even if you don't agree with them absolutely. 309 00:19:20,480 --> 00:19:22,720 Speaker 1: And let's get into that, right after a quick word 310 00:19:22,720 --> 00:19:32,880 Speaker 1: from our sponsor. We've returned. Before we get into this, 311 00:19:33,000 --> 00:19:36,399 Speaker 1: we have a quick word from our pals at the 312 00:19:36,520 --> 00:19:39,840 Speaker 1: u N s C. Kidding no, the perfect I g 313 00:19:40,040 --> 00:19:43,440 Speaker 1: U commercial. Uh, let's do that. Let's do that when 314 00:19:43,440 --> 00:19:46,199 Speaker 1: we do our war crimes episode. But but there's some 315 00:19:46,240 --> 00:19:50,240 Speaker 1: stuff people need to know about the U N s C. Right, Yeah, 316 00:19:50,280 --> 00:19:52,200 Speaker 1: Well we've mentioned this before in a couple of episodes, 317 00:19:52,240 --> 00:19:54,120 Speaker 1: but Ben, I want you to read that quote one 318 00:19:54,119 --> 00:19:57,720 Speaker 1: more time about what the i c C can what 319 00:19:57,800 --> 00:20:00,000 Speaker 1: they can do, because I want to break that down 320 00:20:00,160 --> 00:20:02,439 Speaker 1: just a little bit before we move into the next section. 321 00:20:03,000 --> 00:20:06,560 Speaker 1: The i c C can only investigate and prosecute crimes 322 00:20:06,600 --> 00:20:11,280 Speaker 1: committed within Members States, crimes committed by nationals of Members States, 323 00:20:11,359 --> 00:20:14,320 Speaker 1: or crimes and situations referred to the Court by the 324 00:20:14,359 --> 00:20:18,439 Speaker 1: Annointed Nations Security Council. It's a kangaroo court just just 325 00:20:18,480 --> 00:20:23,879 Speaker 1: because well, this is this is what it's doing to 326 00:20:23,960 --> 00:20:25,679 Speaker 1: my brain. At least I'll let you guys know. So 327 00:20:25,800 --> 00:20:28,399 Speaker 1: you've got all the member states here, all the states, 328 00:20:28,440 --> 00:20:30,199 Speaker 1: the states that have agreed, yes, we want to be 329 00:20:30,200 --> 00:20:32,040 Speaker 1: a part of this thing. We want to have these powers. 330 00:20:32,080 --> 00:20:34,919 Speaker 1: You can prosecute things that happened within us, and we 331 00:20:34,960 --> 00:20:38,080 Speaker 1: will also prosecute things that happened within the others. But 332 00:20:38,119 --> 00:20:40,840 Speaker 1: then you've also got yeah, willing to play. But in 333 00:20:40,880 --> 00:20:44,160 Speaker 1: that other bucket, you've got that United Nations Security Council, 334 00:20:44,520 --> 00:20:48,159 Speaker 1: which several of those big states, the big players, as 335 00:20:48,160 --> 00:20:50,520 Speaker 1: you said, the winners of World War Two art members, 336 00:20:50,880 --> 00:20:53,400 Speaker 1: but there are I mean, there's an interesting bag there. 337 00:20:53,440 --> 00:20:58,040 Speaker 1: But let's just name them China, France, Russia, the UK, 338 00:20:58,359 --> 00:21:03,280 Speaker 1: and the US so and these this crew can just say, hey, 339 00:21:03,400 --> 00:21:06,880 Speaker 1: there's something happening over there and you should look into it, 340 00:21:07,680 --> 00:21:09,919 Speaker 1: like one of those have in common. Those are the 341 00:21:09,920 --> 00:21:14,800 Speaker 1: biggest imperialist forces like on planet Earth in terms of 342 00:21:14,880 --> 00:21:18,200 Speaker 1: just like taking over and like you know, subjugating countries 343 00:21:18,240 --> 00:21:21,560 Speaker 1: that are less powerful than them and in exerting their 344 00:21:21,560 --> 00:21:26,080 Speaker 1: influence throughout history. Those are the countries. You know, it 345 00:21:26,200 --> 00:21:29,399 Speaker 1: makes sense they wouldn't want to play, and they can't 346 00:21:29,440 --> 00:21:32,760 Speaker 1: agree on anything. You know, I would be honestly not 347 00:21:32,800 --> 00:21:37,040 Speaker 1: to sound too cynical, but if the UN sc agrees 348 00:21:37,160 --> 00:21:40,040 Speaker 1: on something, in my mind, that means it's time to 349 00:21:40,080 --> 00:21:42,719 Speaker 1: dig in and figure out what the catches are on that, 350 00:21:42,800 --> 00:21:47,000 Speaker 1: because those gangs do not always play nice together. And 351 00:21:47,080 --> 00:21:50,080 Speaker 1: this this leads us to some of the problems with 352 00:21:50,160 --> 00:21:53,640 Speaker 1: the with the court here. First, it can only prosecute 353 00:21:53,680 --> 00:21:57,520 Speaker 1: stuff that happened after its formation. That makes it very 354 00:21:57,560 --> 00:22:01,440 Speaker 1: different from another from something like UH Nuremberg, like the 355 00:22:01,520 --> 00:22:07,040 Speaker 1: Nuremberg Trials were prosecuting on things that happened before the creation, 356 00:22:07,119 --> 00:22:11,840 Speaker 1: like before those trials began. This is looking at UH. 357 00:22:12,760 --> 00:22:15,960 Speaker 1: This can only look at two thousand two going forward, 358 00:22:16,359 --> 00:22:21,080 Speaker 1: which you know probably makes people like Henry Kissinger super elated. 359 00:22:21,320 --> 00:22:24,120 Speaker 1: You know, he might have even smiled. I also heard 360 00:22:24,119 --> 00:22:27,200 Speaker 1: that they can't prosecute anyone under the age of eighteen, 361 00:22:28,400 --> 00:22:30,560 Speaker 1: which is I guess we don't have like, you know, 362 00:22:30,880 --> 00:22:34,760 Speaker 1: evil princes anymore that like you know, like Geoffrey Barathian 363 00:22:34,840 --> 00:22:38,280 Speaker 1: types that like you know, you commit war crimes. But 364 00:22:38,400 --> 00:22:40,480 Speaker 1: that could change. It's just an odd I just thought 365 00:22:40,480 --> 00:22:42,560 Speaker 1: I found that to be an odd little caveat They 366 00:22:42,600 --> 00:22:45,439 Speaker 1: can't persect prosecute anyone under them. But I guess you 367 00:22:45,480 --> 00:22:47,600 Speaker 1: can't be in the army. You can't be in a 368 00:22:47,640 --> 00:22:49,919 Speaker 1: military if you're into the age of eighteen either, So 369 00:22:49,960 --> 00:22:52,880 Speaker 1: maybe you wouldn't necessarily be capable or in a position 370 00:22:53,040 --> 00:22:56,359 Speaker 1: of committing these types of acts. But I did, given 371 00:22:56,600 --> 00:22:59,800 Speaker 1: the span of history, find that to be a little funny. Yeah, 372 00:23:00,040 --> 00:23:02,879 Speaker 1: and it's it's probably a response to the epidemic of 373 00:23:02,960 --> 00:23:07,399 Speaker 1: child soldiers that have plagued human civilization. The people that 374 00:23:07,480 --> 00:23:09,720 Speaker 1: did that, did it to them, prosecute the people that 375 00:23:09,760 --> 00:23:12,600 Speaker 1: put them in that position, not necessarily them who have 376 00:23:12,640 --> 00:23:16,720 Speaker 1: been brainwashed and you know, mistreated and turned into these 377 00:23:16,880 --> 00:23:21,320 Speaker 1: you know, Manchurian candidates. Yeah, and you know what, that's 378 00:23:21,359 --> 00:23:24,160 Speaker 1: a that's an episode in the future too. I think 379 00:23:24,160 --> 00:23:28,080 Speaker 1: if we look into child soldier epidemics this, Yeah, so 380 00:23:28,400 --> 00:23:30,240 Speaker 1: under a team that's part of it too. That's really 381 00:23:30,240 --> 00:23:34,560 Speaker 1: good point. Secondly, obviously, not every country is going to 382 00:23:34,640 --> 00:23:39,119 Speaker 1: agree with this idea. In general, several countries on the 383 00:23:39,160 --> 00:23:42,760 Speaker 1: African continent have accused the i c C of being 384 00:23:43,840 --> 00:23:48,120 Speaker 1: just a jumped up tool of Western imperialism. And what 385 00:23:48,160 --> 00:23:51,320 Speaker 1: they mean is they're saying, hey, you at the i 386 00:23:51,480 --> 00:23:56,880 Speaker 1: c C. You are punishing leaders of smaller, weaker, non 387 00:23:56,880 --> 00:24:02,000 Speaker 1: colonial states, while you're ignoring much more serious crimes by 388 00:24:02,119 --> 00:24:05,000 Speaker 1: people who look a little more like you maybe or 389 00:24:05,200 --> 00:24:08,159 Speaker 1: come from more powerful states who are able to bully 390 00:24:08,280 --> 00:24:11,040 Speaker 1: or bribe. And that's a huge part of this. I've 391 00:24:11,080 --> 00:24:14,800 Speaker 1: got to say, and not addinged any of our European friends, 392 00:24:15,040 --> 00:24:17,200 Speaker 1: because I want to get back in the country at 393 00:24:17,200 --> 00:24:20,119 Speaker 1: some point. Until twenty I've got to say there's some 394 00:24:20,200 --> 00:24:26,919 Speaker 1: validity until six. All nine cases or uh situations as 395 00:24:26,960 --> 00:24:30,000 Speaker 1: they call them, Verry Seinfeld, Verry Larry David, all nine 396 00:24:30,040 --> 00:24:34,720 Speaker 1: situations they investigated, we're all in African countries. Plus the 397 00:24:34,760 --> 00:24:38,679 Speaker 1: i SEC is headquartered in the Hague. The Hague sounds 398 00:24:38,720 --> 00:24:41,480 Speaker 1: like a building, but it's it's the third largest city 399 00:24:41,480 --> 00:24:45,480 Speaker 1: in the Netherlands. And if you already see this is 400 00:24:45,520 --> 00:24:49,240 Speaker 1: Western imperialism, then of course you're gonna say, look, this 401 00:24:49,359 --> 00:24:52,760 Speaker 1: is in this is located in what I see as 402 00:24:52,800 --> 00:24:59,200 Speaker 1: a representation of that imperialism. You will obviously from your perspective, 403 00:24:59,200 --> 00:25:02,480 Speaker 1: it's reasonable to say this is to maintain the ghosts 404 00:25:02,640 --> 00:25:08,399 Speaker 1: of old colonial power and force this imperialism. So there's beef. 405 00:25:08,600 --> 00:25:12,160 Speaker 1: It's beefed up. These these controversies their origins. It's clear 406 00:25:12,480 --> 00:25:18,240 Speaker 1: it's no surprise that many very powerful countries refused to 407 00:25:18,320 --> 00:25:21,040 Speaker 1: play ball at all. They didn't really show up to 408 00:25:21,080 --> 00:25:26,639 Speaker 1: the playground. China, Japan, Russia, uh India, and Israel I 409 00:25:26,680 --> 00:25:30,720 Speaker 1: would I would put them in some separate buckets, but 410 00:25:30,840 --> 00:25:34,520 Speaker 1: they never ratified the treaties, which means, according to the 411 00:25:34,560 --> 00:25:39,199 Speaker 1: court's own decisions, they cannot legally be prosecuted. However, folks, 412 00:25:39,240 --> 00:25:42,399 Speaker 1: there is one country that went to a little farther 413 00:25:42,760 --> 00:25:46,520 Speaker 1: you know, the country who said, let's invent extra large 414 00:25:46,520 --> 00:25:50,280 Speaker 1: because large isn't large enough. The country that said, cocaine's 415 00:25:50,400 --> 00:25:52,640 Speaker 1: just not doing it. We need something with a little 416 00:25:52,680 --> 00:25:57,879 Speaker 1: more pep. The creators of crack, the creators of free refills. 417 00:25:58,200 --> 00:26:02,800 Speaker 1: The United States responded to this with an outright declared conspiracy. 418 00:26:03,119 --> 00:26:05,800 Speaker 1: This is a true story. Try to come at us, 419 00:26:06,080 --> 00:26:10,080 Speaker 1: they said, to the International Criminal Court, and we will 420 00:26:10,480 --> 00:26:16,159 Speaker 1: invade your city. Here's where it gets great. I'm just 421 00:26:16,280 --> 00:26:18,160 Speaker 1: I know we don't curse a lot on this show, 422 00:26:18,160 --> 00:26:21,119 Speaker 1: but I feel like we need that to land for sure. 423 00:26:21,320 --> 00:26:26,399 Speaker 1: Yeah right, I mean that's exactly what this episode is about, 424 00:26:27,160 --> 00:26:29,520 Speaker 1: the concept like we we I It blew my mind 425 00:26:29,520 --> 00:26:31,280 Speaker 1: when we first talked about it in that I think 426 00:26:31,280 --> 00:26:33,639 Speaker 1: it was a strange news or listener. I can't remember, 427 00:26:33,680 --> 00:26:36,280 Speaker 1: but we first talked about I I couldn't believe that 428 00:26:36,320 --> 00:26:42,000 Speaker 1: the US decided that if anyone tries to prosecute a 429 00:26:42,400 --> 00:26:44,560 Speaker 1: somebody in the U S an important enough member of 430 00:26:44,600 --> 00:26:48,159 Speaker 1: the US. Uh, the the I sec attempts to do that, 431 00:26:48,400 --> 00:26:51,320 Speaker 1: we would We've put it in writing that we would 432 00:26:51,359 --> 00:26:54,320 Speaker 1: invade them. Yeah, the mess around and find out would 433 00:26:54,320 --> 00:26:57,160 Speaker 1: have been a better name for this law. Technically it's 434 00:26:57,200 --> 00:27:01,200 Speaker 1: called the American Service Members Protection Act early August two 435 00:27:01,200 --> 00:27:03,760 Speaker 1: thousand two. Well, we we also know that, I mean 436 00:27:03,800 --> 00:27:06,800 Speaker 1: the the was it the Rome Treaty or the Rome 437 00:27:06,920 --> 00:27:11,000 Speaker 1: Doctrine and yeah, statute exactly. Well, you know, the US 438 00:27:11,119 --> 00:27:14,240 Speaker 1: was had a big hand in in crafting that in 439 00:27:14,280 --> 00:27:17,720 Speaker 1: the first place, but then ultimately decided, n we don't 440 00:27:17,760 --> 00:27:22,359 Speaker 1: want to participate because they were worried about political persecution 441 00:27:22,800 --> 00:27:26,000 Speaker 1: or or that that that there would be politicized, um, 442 00:27:26,040 --> 00:27:29,480 Speaker 1: you know, cases against our country or you know, I 443 00:27:29,480 --> 00:27:31,600 Speaker 1: mean that's obviously what they're really concerned about. That they 444 00:27:31,840 --> 00:27:35,399 Speaker 1: put it in broader terms obviously, but you know, considering 445 00:27:35,440 --> 00:27:38,720 Speaker 1: how many cups and and other you know, the business 446 00:27:38,720 --> 00:27:41,280 Speaker 1: of other countries the US gets involved in in terms 447 00:27:41,280 --> 00:27:45,240 Speaker 1: of like supplying weapons to UH groups and and and 448 00:27:45,320 --> 00:27:48,680 Speaker 1: countries that are later determined to be war criminals. Of course, 449 00:27:48,720 --> 00:27:52,399 Speaker 1: we wouldn't want to be be part of that, you know. 450 00:27:52,440 --> 00:27:55,080 Speaker 1: It just it just makes so much sense. And you know, sure, 451 00:27:55,160 --> 00:27:59,080 Speaker 1: come at the countries, but then also, no, don't, because 452 00:27:59,200 --> 00:28:00,680 Speaker 1: we need to be we need to have a hand 453 00:28:00,720 --> 00:28:03,240 Speaker 1: in what is determined to be a genocide, you know, 454 00:28:03,320 --> 00:28:06,120 Speaker 1: because we are participatory in so many of these things, 455 00:28:06,160 --> 00:28:09,520 Speaker 1: and when we are, hands are not clean. Therefore we 456 00:28:09,600 --> 00:28:13,119 Speaker 1: have to be able to have plausible deniability. And you 457 00:28:13,160 --> 00:28:16,439 Speaker 1: can't come at us directly, um, because we're just playing 458 00:28:16,840 --> 00:28:20,320 Speaker 1: the you know, so many sides against each other. UH. 459 00:28:20,359 --> 00:28:21,919 Speaker 1: And at the time it's, oh, we did it for 460 00:28:22,119 --> 00:28:25,760 Speaker 1: humanitarian reasons, but we know that's not true. I don't. 461 00:28:25,760 --> 00:28:28,880 Speaker 1: I don't think we're some sort of magnanimous Oh, we're 462 00:28:28,920 --> 00:28:30,600 Speaker 1: just trying to look out for the best interests of 463 00:28:30,680 --> 00:28:34,359 Speaker 1: human life. That's just not true, unequivocally. Well, you know, 464 00:28:34,400 --> 00:28:37,400 Speaker 1: it reminds me of that old meme. Ah, yes, here 465 00:28:37,480 --> 00:28:41,280 Speaker 1: they are consequences of my actions. If you have enough 466 00:28:41,280 --> 00:28:44,000 Speaker 1: power to say no to the consequences of your actions, 467 00:28:44,080 --> 00:28:48,440 Speaker 1: then why wouldn't you? In basic terms, this Service Members 468 00:28:48,520 --> 00:28:52,520 Speaker 1: Protection Act, street name Invade the Hague Act, says that 469 00:28:52,600 --> 00:28:56,920 Speaker 1: it's meant to protect United States military personnel other elected 470 00:28:56,920 --> 00:29:00,800 Speaker 1: and appointed officials of the US government against criminal prosecution 471 00:29:00,880 --> 00:29:04,320 Speaker 1: by an international criminal court to which the United States 472 00:29:04,440 --> 00:29:08,280 Speaker 1: is not party a k a. Any international criminal court 473 00:29:08,720 --> 00:29:11,680 Speaker 1: in the US. The president. This is interesting because in 474 00:29:11,720 --> 00:29:15,720 Speaker 1: the US the president needs congressional approval for any conflict 475 00:29:15,800 --> 00:29:19,200 Speaker 1: lasting more than a hundred and eight days, except in 476 00:29:19,240 --> 00:29:22,920 Speaker 1: this case, if they say go, then then off you go. 477 00:29:23,480 --> 00:29:27,520 Speaker 1: Uh yeah, it's fast. It's very fast, especially in geopolitics, 478 00:29:27,520 --> 00:29:30,360 Speaker 1: so it doesn't leave a lot of room for interpretation. 479 00:29:30,640 --> 00:29:32,160 Speaker 1: The US is not part of the i c C. 480 00:29:32,600 --> 00:29:35,480 Speaker 1: The U S President is allowed to do anything up 481 00:29:35,520 --> 00:29:39,840 Speaker 1: to and including direct military action. And again there's another quote. 482 00:29:39,840 --> 00:29:42,920 Speaker 1: There's a real law to quote bring about the release 483 00:29:42,920 --> 00:29:46,640 Speaker 1: of any US or allied personnel being detained or imprisoned 484 00:29:46,640 --> 00:29:49,960 Speaker 1: by on behalf of, or at the request of the 485 00:29:50,040 --> 00:29:53,120 Speaker 1: i c C. So it doesn't matter really where they're 486 00:29:53,160 --> 00:29:56,640 Speaker 1: being kept. It's just good pr to call it invade 487 00:29:56,680 --> 00:29:59,560 Speaker 1: the Hague. Right. It's a catchy phrase, but you know, 488 00:29:59,640 --> 00:30:04,360 Speaker 1: if they is a Carmen San Diego situation and the 489 00:30:04,480 --> 00:30:08,200 Speaker 1: US uh doesn't, the US will find that person if 490 00:30:08,240 --> 00:30:11,240 Speaker 1: they think the I c C Is going against US interest. 491 00:30:11,400 --> 00:30:13,920 Speaker 1: It's wild pretty easy to find Carmen San Diego with 492 00:30:14,000 --> 00:30:16,640 Speaker 1: that big old hat. I just have to say, nobody 493 00:30:16,640 --> 00:30:20,400 Speaker 1: wears a hat that broad except Carmen. It's mind blowing 494 00:30:20,440 --> 00:30:23,440 Speaker 1: to me to imagine that the US has a position of, Yes, 495 00:30:23,480 --> 00:30:25,720 Speaker 1: this thing is great, This I CEC thing is great. 496 00:30:25,760 --> 00:30:27,560 Speaker 1: We don't need to play. This thing is can function 497 00:30:27,640 --> 00:30:29,600 Speaker 1: as long as it needs to, as long as it 498 00:30:29,640 --> 00:30:32,680 Speaker 1: doesn't come after us, because the day it comes after us, 499 00:30:33,240 --> 00:30:39,480 Speaker 1: it's gonna be gone. And yeah, and from some perspectives, yeah, 500 00:30:39,640 --> 00:30:41,720 Speaker 1: you can see how from some perspectives, this is a 501 00:30:41,800 --> 00:30:45,760 Speaker 1: dick move. It's back to the pizza analogy. The US 502 00:30:45,840 --> 00:30:49,840 Speaker 1: sat around while everyone was ordering the pizza, dictated a 503 00:30:49,840 --> 00:30:53,800 Speaker 1: ton of the ingredients, and then said, I'm gonna eat, 504 00:30:53,800 --> 00:30:56,000 Speaker 1: but I'm not gonna pay. You know, it's like the 505 00:30:56,600 --> 00:30:58,640 Speaker 1: fable of the Little red hen, you know, like the 506 00:30:58,680 --> 00:31:02,880 Speaker 1: little red hens cultivating all of the ingredients for the bread, 507 00:31:02,960 --> 00:31:05,120 Speaker 1: and the rabbit comes and say, she's like help me. 508 00:31:05,240 --> 00:31:08,640 Speaker 1: You know how this this road to get the whatever 509 00:31:08,680 --> 00:31:10,800 Speaker 1: the grain, and rabbits like no, and then the whatever 510 00:31:10,920 --> 00:31:14,520 Speaker 1: chicken or not whatever some other animal. And then at 511 00:31:14,520 --> 00:31:16,760 Speaker 1: the end when the bread is made, all the animals 512 00:31:16,760 --> 00:31:18,880 Speaker 1: come around like we want some, and the little red 513 00:31:18,920 --> 00:31:21,400 Speaker 1: hands like, nah, you can't. But we are the all 514 00:31:21,400 --> 00:31:23,800 Speaker 1: the other animals. Is what we are, and a little 515 00:31:24,600 --> 00:31:27,720 Speaker 1: hand is the I sec essentially or the rest of 516 00:31:27,760 --> 00:31:30,520 Speaker 1: the world. I guess right, yeah, it's we just take 517 00:31:30,560 --> 00:31:32,640 Speaker 1: the bread. We just take the bread, we eat it, 518 00:31:32,840 --> 00:31:34,760 Speaker 1: and then we killed a little red head brutal, and 519 00:31:36,040 --> 00:31:39,440 Speaker 1: we liberate the bread and we hold the hit accountable. 520 00:31:39,600 --> 00:31:43,800 Speaker 1: Is what we tell the school children. How dare they 521 00:31:43,840 --> 00:31:46,480 Speaker 1: grow that bread? But yeah, it's weird, So you can 522 00:31:46,480 --> 00:31:49,000 Speaker 1: al really see this sticky. This very divisive for anybody 523 00:31:49,040 --> 00:31:51,120 Speaker 1: who was around at the time in two thousand two, 524 00:31:51,240 --> 00:31:54,880 Speaker 1: this was, um, this was a real sandstorm because I'm 525 00:31:54,920 --> 00:31:57,160 Speaker 1: trying to curse less on the show after I got 526 00:31:57,200 --> 00:32:01,040 Speaker 1: out a couple couple of bombs. The law came into 527 00:32:01,080 --> 00:32:06,520 Speaker 1: being due to Senator Jesse Helms and US Representative Tom Delay, 528 00:32:06,600 --> 00:32:10,400 Speaker 1: a guy was famous for really dumb decisions. So this 529 00:32:10,520 --> 00:32:14,920 Speaker 1: was signed into law by then President George Bush W. 530 00:32:15,120 --> 00:32:18,040 Speaker 1: George W. Bush don't worry folks outside the U S. 531 00:32:18,080 --> 00:32:22,760 Speaker 1: It's confusing for us to it becomes two. It's the sun, Yes, 532 00:32:22,920 --> 00:32:27,000 Speaker 1: the sequel Son up Bush. But it does a lot 533 00:32:27,040 --> 00:32:30,640 Speaker 1: more than just say we will come for you. It 534 00:32:30,680 --> 00:32:36,320 Speaker 1: prohibits the extradition of anyone, not just military, civilian or military, 535 00:32:36,320 --> 00:32:38,680 Speaker 1: from the U S to the i c C. It 536 00:32:38,800 --> 00:32:46,400 Speaker 1: bans every single possible government organization, agency, law enforcement like 537 00:32:46,480 --> 00:32:51,240 Speaker 1: any branch, federal, state, even local level from assisting the 538 00:32:51,280 --> 00:32:55,920 Speaker 1: i c C. Full stop. Your local librarian. By the way, 539 00:32:55,960 --> 00:32:59,720 Speaker 1: if the I s C for some reason contacts your 540 00:32:59,720 --> 00:33:02,800 Speaker 1: libry area and says, hey, what's that Matt Frederick guy reading, 541 00:33:03,040 --> 00:33:06,920 Speaker 1: they'll say, I legally cannot tell you. This is quintessential. 542 00:33:07,240 --> 00:33:09,920 Speaker 1: This is quintessential. Might makes right, isn't it. I mean, 543 00:33:10,000 --> 00:33:12,479 Speaker 1: it really truly is. You can kind of dictate all 544 00:33:12,520 --> 00:33:15,040 Speaker 1: these terms if if the only way anyone's gonna call 545 00:33:15,080 --> 00:33:18,040 Speaker 1: you on it is if they, you know, threaten you militarily, 546 00:33:18,640 --> 00:33:21,200 Speaker 1: and there are very few nations that can do that 547 00:33:21,560 --> 00:33:24,840 Speaker 1: to the United States. It goes even further. I SEC 548 00:33:25,000 --> 00:33:29,480 Speaker 1: officials are not allowed to conduct investigations on US soil. Yes, 549 00:33:29,520 --> 00:33:33,400 Speaker 1: that includes military bases abroad, which is important. But wait, 550 00:33:33,480 --> 00:33:36,240 Speaker 1: Billy Mays, who was wont to say, there's more. Countries 551 00:33:36,280 --> 00:33:39,280 Speaker 1: that are part of the I s C also cannot 552 00:33:39,320 --> 00:33:44,880 Speaker 1: receive military aid from the US without explicit exceptions. Uh. 553 00:33:45,400 --> 00:33:47,880 Speaker 1: It's very it's very tupac, you know what I mean. 554 00:33:47,920 --> 00:33:50,920 Speaker 1: It's very like, it's very screw you and if you 555 00:33:51,040 --> 00:33:54,320 Speaker 1: ride with them, screw YouTube. So it gets a little 556 00:33:54,320 --> 00:33:57,640 Speaker 1: sticky when we talked about exceptions. NATO members are exempted. 557 00:33:57,680 --> 00:34:00,920 Speaker 1: In general. Allies that the US is playing ball with 558 00:34:01,120 --> 00:34:05,920 Speaker 1: really nicely are exempted. Taiwan, other countries that have agreed 559 00:34:05,960 --> 00:34:09,680 Speaker 1: to never ever ever hand over any U S national 560 00:34:09,760 --> 00:34:12,680 Speaker 1: to the I c C can get a waiver. Other 561 00:34:12,719 --> 00:34:15,680 Speaker 1: than that, it's really iron clad. And this is um 562 00:34:16,000 --> 00:34:19,600 Speaker 1: Obviously there's a lot of political posturing, but it is enforced. 563 00:34:19,680 --> 00:34:24,680 Speaker 1: In two thousand two, same year, Uh, George W. Bush 564 00:34:24,719 --> 00:34:29,120 Speaker 1: makes this a law. Uh. The US uses this invade 565 00:34:29,160 --> 00:34:32,120 Speaker 1: the Hague Act as part of their logic to veto 566 00:34:32,360 --> 00:34:37,080 Speaker 1: continuing peacekeeping operations in Bosnia. They said, will assist this. 567 00:34:37,400 --> 00:34:40,120 Speaker 1: We're paraphrasing, but this is what they signaled, will assist. 568 00:34:40,520 --> 00:34:42,919 Speaker 1: We deigned to do so, but we are not within 569 00:34:42,960 --> 00:34:46,640 Speaker 1: the scope of your so called court the same laws 570 00:34:46,880 --> 00:34:52,040 Speaker 1: restrict American forces in UN peacekeeping forces until those troops 571 00:34:52,120 --> 00:34:56,040 Speaker 1: get immunity from I c C. Prosecution. The US is 572 00:34:56,080 --> 00:35:00,760 Speaker 1: still able to help bring accused war criminals to justice 573 00:35:00,920 --> 00:35:04,360 Speaker 1: in this court as long as they're not American nationals. 574 00:35:04,800 --> 00:35:07,359 Speaker 1: And at some point, when you hear all these caveats 575 00:35:07,400 --> 00:35:10,200 Speaker 1: how crazy this is, you have to ask why why 576 00:35:10,200 --> 00:35:13,960 Speaker 1: does the US have such a stringent set of demands. Honestly, 577 00:35:14,040 --> 00:35:15,640 Speaker 1: I don't know if you guys picked up on this. 578 00:35:15,960 --> 00:35:18,640 Speaker 1: Here's the vibe I got when I was doing research 579 00:35:18,680 --> 00:35:22,600 Speaker 1: about this, I mean many years ago too. It's still 580 00:35:22,640 --> 00:35:26,880 Speaker 1: to me reads like a jilted high schooler telling people, Hey, guys, 581 00:35:26,920 --> 00:35:29,040 Speaker 1: if you want to be friends, you can't ever ever 582 00:35:29,120 --> 00:35:31,759 Speaker 1: talk to my acts because we broke up. Like I 583 00:35:31,800 --> 00:35:34,040 Speaker 1: don't text her. I see one of you are still 584 00:35:34,080 --> 00:35:36,480 Speaker 1: friends on Facebook, and that's just not a good look 585 00:35:36,520 --> 00:35:39,279 Speaker 1: for us. I really want to know the backstory to 586 00:35:39,360 --> 00:35:44,920 Speaker 1: that character. Ye giant Mart I think is very leaning 587 00:35:44,920 --> 00:35:50,960 Speaker 1: with that. Yeah, nobody called anymore, No, no, no, you 588 00:35:51,040 --> 00:35:52,839 Speaker 1: gotta start a new one. But we're all the we're 589 00:35:52,880 --> 00:35:55,680 Speaker 1: halfway through the campaign. We've been doing it. Not sorry, sorry, 590 00:35:55,680 --> 00:35:59,840 Speaker 1: you can't. We can't do well. It turns out you 591 00:36:00,080 --> 00:36:04,680 Speaker 1: us sadly, there's some compelling reasons behind this. Uh first, 592 00:36:05,160 --> 00:36:06,919 Speaker 1: I mean, there are a couple of reasons, but let's 593 00:36:06,960 --> 00:36:10,480 Speaker 1: just knock let's knock through them first. There's the potential 594 00:36:10,640 --> 00:36:13,800 Speaker 1: for war crimes prosecution, as as you point out earlier, 595 00:36:13,880 --> 00:36:17,080 Speaker 1: noal from the bottom to the top factions of the U. S. 596 00:36:17,160 --> 00:36:22,120 Speaker 1: Government and military saw this jurisdiction as a potential threat. 597 00:36:22,520 --> 00:36:27,280 Speaker 1: That's why in seventeen Everyone's favorite where Walrus John Bolton 598 00:36:27,640 --> 00:36:30,840 Speaker 1: wrote an op ed in the Wall Street Journal saying 599 00:36:30,840 --> 00:36:34,840 Speaker 1: that the i c C was purposely designed to target 600 00:36:34,880 --> 00:36:37,400 Speaker 1: the United States. I don't know if that part's true, 601 00:36:37,719 --> 00:36:40,000 Speaker 1: but that's what he thought. I would say. You can 602 00:36:40,040 --> 00:36:43,279 Speaker 1: see I could see that as someone who doesn't know 603 00:36:43,960 --> 00:36:46,000 Speaker 1: how it was formed, what's going on and why it 604 00:36:46,040 --> 00:36:48,920 Speaker 1: was formed. If you imagine that it's a bunch of 605 00:36:48,920 --> 00:36:52,279 Speaker 1: other states teaming up together to have some kind of 606 00:36:52,360 --> 00:36:57,960 Speaker 1: power against the reigning world superpower, right, Like, we've got 607 00:36:58,040 --> 00:37:01,360 Speaker 1: some kind of lever we could put stentially pull to 608 00:37:01,640 --> 00:37:05,880 Speaker 1: protect ourselves against this giant country with the huge army 609 00:37:06,120 --> 00:37:09,440 Speaker 1: and all the nukes if we had to. Uh, but 610 00:37:09,520 --> 00:37:12,360 Speaker 1: it doesn't seem to be working out that way, especially 611 00:37:12,360 --> 00:37:15,800 Speaker 1: when you consider when this law happened right right after 612 00:37:16,080 --> 00:37:20,800 Speaker 1: the September eleven attacks, right before we had full scale 613 00:37:20,840 --> 00:37:25,400 Speaker 1: invasion of Iraq. Again, I mean, it's just I don't know, 614 00:37:25,560 --> 00:37:28,440 Speaker 1: it feels like a bunch of people trying to form 615 00:37:28,480 --> 00:37:32,120 Speaker 1: some kind of Avengers group which was under false pretenses. 616 00:37:32,160 --> 00:37:34,920 Speaker 1: By the way, Wasn't that Wasn't that an act of aggression? 617 00:37:34,960 --> 00:37:37,759 Speaker 1: Wouldn't that have been a crime of aggression saying that 618 00:37:37,800 --> 00:37:40,239 Speaker 1: we're going after weapons of mass destruction when it was 619 00:37:40,280 --> 00:37:42,719 Speaker 1: proven that that was never never the case, or was 620 00:37:42,760 --> 00:37:45,000 Speaker 1: it decided that that was in good faith that we 621 00:37:45,160 --> 00:37:48,239 Speaker 1: believed that to be true, So therefore it wasn't an 622 00:37:48,280 --> 00:37:51,400 Speaker 1: act of aggression. We'll never know because it's never gonna 623 00:37:51,400 --> 00:37:54,879 Speaker 1: make it to the i c C. That's that's unfortunately 624 00:37:54,920 --> 00:37:58,560 Speaker 1: the truth. But yeah, the yellow cake uranium thing turned 625 00:37:58,560 --> 00:38:02,080 Speaker 1: out to be bum so did the stuff about the tubes. 626 00:38:02,160 --> 00:38:04,520 Speaker 1: And you know, a lot of a lot of American 627 00:38:04,960 --> 00:38:10,920 Speaker 1: service members died as as a result of um of 628 00:38:10,920 --> 00:38:13,040 Speaker 1: of those decisions, whether you think they were in good 629 00:38:13,040 --> 00:38:16,200 Speaker 1: faith or whether you think they were purposely con artists 630 00:38:16,640 --> 00:38:20,720 Speaker 1: at work. So Bolton said, you know, Bolton is reacting 631 00:38:20,719 --> 00:38:23,520 Speaker 1: at this point, there's like a year before he has 632 00:38:23,560 --> 00:38:28,880 Speaker 1: a crazy montage moment as National Security advisor, His his 633 00:38:28,880 --> 00:38:32,720 Speaker 1: his his calendar year of love twenty eighteen to twenty nineteen, 634 00:38:33,040 --> 00:38:36,160 Speaker 1: and he noted that the i SEC prosecutor at the time, 635 00:38:36,200 --> 00:38:41,640 Speaker 1: thought to Benzelda was investigating alleged war crimes and crimes 636 00:38:41,680 --> 00:38:45,439 Speaker 1: against humanity in Afghanistan dating back to two thousand and three. 637 00:38:46,120 --> 00:38:49,080 Speaker 1: He said, this raises the alarming possibility that the court 638 00:38:49,120 --> 00:38:53,640 Speaker 1: will seek to assert jurisdiction over American citizens, and he, 639 00:38:53,800 --> 00:38:56,640 Speaker 1: along with the people who agreed with him, said this 640 00:38:56,960 --> 00:39:00,319 Speaker 1: i SEC was an assault not just on the S 641 00:39:00,600 --> 00:39:06,160 Speaker 1: but the concept of national sovereignty. Um. The question that 642 00:39:06,200 --> 00:39:09,080 Speaker 1: he was kind of posing simply put whether or not 643 00:39:09,120 --> 00:39:11,080 Speaker 1: you agree with the guy, And I didn't mean a 644 00:39:11,160 --> 00:39:14,000 Speaker 1: mustache shame him. He has a very you know, he's 645 00:39:14,000 --> 00:39:17,360 Speaker 1: worked hard on his mustache. His question, though, is something 646 00:39:17,480 --> 00:39:20,160 Speaker 1: I would freeze it something like this, What does one 647 00:39:20,239 --> 00:39:24,960 Speaker 1: country's court system matter if another global court can simply 648 00:39:25,000 --> 00:39:28,799 Speaker 1: ignore it and enforce you know, their concept of law. 649 00:39:29,239 --> 00:39:31,120 Speaker 1: Even that that's part of why the i c C, 650 00:39:31,320 --> 00:39:33,960 Speaker 1: by the way, is so limited in what it can 651 00:39:34,000 --> 00:39:38,200 Speaker 1: look at and how it's I mean, it's a defensible argument, 652 00:39:38,520 --> 00:39:41,600 Speaker 1: but you can also say it's a convenient argument a 653 00:39:41,640 --> 00:39:45,200 Speaker 1: little bit for the US. Like you guys said a 654 00:39:45,320 --> 00:39:48,600 Speaker 1: lot of caught a lot of heat across the world 655 00:39:48,640 --> 00:39:52,440 Speaker 1: for interventions in Iraq who had nothing to do with 656 00:39:52,560 --> 00:39:57,960 Speaker 1: September eleven and Afghanistan. Um fun note the U s 657 00:39:58,000 --> 00:40:02,120 Speaker 1: has not invaded Saudi Arabia and may have just recently 658 00:40:02,239 --> 00:40:06,000 Speaker 1: as we record, slid them some extremely sensitive intel related 659 00:40:06,040 --> 00:40:10,239 Speaker 1: to other world leaders and nuclear weaponry. And then we 660 00:40:10,320 --> 00:40:13,799 Speaker 1: got the conversation about real politics. Just to define real 661 00:40:13,920 --> 00:40:17,239 Speaker 1: politic real quickly. It's the idea that you've got to 662 00:40:17,280 --> 00:40:20,320 Speaker 1: be practical, you gotta do what works in the moment, 663 00:40:20,360 --> 00:40:23,840 Speaker 1: and you can't be bound by things like ideology or 664 00:40:24,000 --> 00:40:28,960 Speaker 1: moral restraints, again made famous by Henry Kissinger. But but 665 00:40:28,960 --> 00:40:31,400 Speaker 1: but again like a lot of these, uh, these tenants 666 00:40:31,800 --> 00:40:38,279 Speaker 1: of the International Criminal Court are based in ideology and morality. 667 00:40:38,440 --> 00:40:41,960 Speaker 1: And it makes your heads been a little bit, don't it. 668 00:40:43,320 --> 00:40:45,759 Speaker 1: I don't Yeah, I don't know. I think you can 669 00:40:45,800 --> 00:40:49,240 Speaker 1: get most people. I think you can get most people 670 00:40:49,320 --> 00:40:55,160 Speaker 1: to say it is um not ethical. Two for one 671 00:40:55,280 --> 00:40:58,160 Speaker 1: person to wake up and decide their judge jury and 672 00:40:58,239 --> 00:41:01,920 Speaker 1: executioner of hundreds of thousand or millions of people. I 673 00:41:01,960 --> 00:41:05,480 Speaker 1: think we all agree that's a no no, right, Even 674 00:41:05,520 --> 00:41:09,360 Speaker 1: even people who want drastic population reduction would say, well, 675 00:41:09,360 --> 00:41:12,000 Speaker 1: either make it random or have some kind of system. 676 00:41:12,080 --> 00:41:14,440 Speaker 1: And most of them will also say a system that 677 00:41:14,520 --> 00:41:16,320 Speaker 1: spares me. But that that's kind of what I was 678 00:41:16,320 --> 00:41:20,160 Speaker 1: getting at earlier, like like what what one person's genocide 679 00:41:20,200 --> 00:41:23,640 Speaker 1: is another person's just conflict, you know, Like it takes 680 00:41:23,640 --> 00:41:26,520 Speaker 1: a lot. The burden of proof to determine something was 681 00:41:26,560 --> 00:41:30,520 Speaker 1: a genocide requires the proof of intent and and and 682 00:41:30,560 --> 00:41:33,759 Speaker 1: to be able to actually determine that ideologically this was 683 00:41:33,800 --> 00:41:37,200 Speaker 1: meant to be ethnic cleansing as opposed to just know 684 00:41:37,440 --> 00:41:40,279 Speaker 1: we were protecting you know, our our, our people or 685 00:41:40,280 --> 00:41:42,640 Speaker 1: whatever it might be. These this is an invading force. 686 00:41:43,200 --> 00:41:46,279 Speaker 1: So the burden of proof is very difficult, right, It's 687 00:41:46,280 --> 00:41:48,480 Speaker 1: a very high bar because I mean there are some 688 00:41:48,719 --> 00:41:53,200 Speaker 1: you know acts or events, um tragic you know, killings 689 00:41:53,239 --> 00:41:57,919 Speaker 1: and conflicts that any you know, rational person would probably 690 00:41:57,960 --> 00:42:00,359 Speaker 1: look at and say that was a genocide, but they 691 00:42:00,360 --> 00:42:04,759 Speaker 1: aren't officially categorized as genocides. Cool it, guys, Turkey has 692 00:42:04,880 --> 00:42:11,759 Speaker 1: entered the chat. So moving on, right, think the same India, right, Indonesia, 693 00:42:11,920 --> 00:42:14,839 Speaker 1: Like I mean, there's a film called The Act of Killing, um, 694 00:42:14,920 --> 00:42:18,560 Speaker 1: which is about all of these military, you know, individuals 695 00:42:18,680 --> 00:42:23,080 Speaker 1: that that that participated by their own admission in in 696 00:42:23,080 --> 00:42:26,600 Speaker 1: in genocide and they are essentially like we're treated like 697 00:42:26,719 --> 00:42:29,359 Speaker 1: rock stars. And it's a really disturbing film. It's these 698 00:42:29,400 --> 00:42:32,520 Speaker 1: these people that the filmmakers found and have them reenact 699 00:42:33,000 --> 00:42:36,520 Speaker 1: these executions they carried out like like almost like a play. 700 00:42:36,600 --> 00:42:38,920 Speaker 1: And um, it's it's apparently I actually haven't seen it. 701 00:42:38,920 --> 00:42:44,080 Speaker 1: It's one that it's on my list, but I'm see exactly. 702 00:42:44,080 --> 00:42:46,000 Speaker 1: But my point is, I don't believe that that event 703 00:42:46,080 --> 00:42:49,440 Speaker 1: in Indonesia was officially classified by the i c C 704 00:42:49,840 --> 00:42:53,400 Speaker 1: as a genocide. When you look at the Wikipedia about it, 705 00:42:53,400 --> 00:42:57,520 Speaker 1: it it kind of evacillates between mass killing and genocide, 706 00:42:57,840 --> 00:43:00,799 Speaker 1: you know, because it's it's difficult to uh put to 707 00:43:00,840 --> 00:43:03,120 Speaker 1: put that the G word on something. It takes a 708 00:43:03,160 --> 00:43:07,240 Speaker 1: lot for for the international community to agree. Yeah. Again, 709 00:43:07,360 --> 00:43:12,040 Speaker 1: check out our episode on on genocide. And there there 710 00:43:12,040 --> 00:43:17,319 Speaker 1: are powerful forces who wish to control the definition of 711 00:43:17,320 --> 00:43:20,360 Speaker 1: what is or is not a genocide. I'm not singling 712 00:43:20,360 --> 00:43:23,080 Speaker 1: out any one force because there are multiple and they 713 00:43:23,120 --> 00:43:25,960 Speaker 1: don't always agree with each other. Uh. The I will 714 00:43:26,000 --> 00:43:30,399 Speaker 1: say the reference to Turkey is a reference to the 715 00:43:30,560 --> 00:43:35,920 Speaker 1: country's position that there was no Armenian genocide. We trust you, 716 00:43:36,200 --> 00:43:39,880 Speaker 1: as researchers, fellow conspiracy realist, look up the facts and 717 00:43:39,920 --> 00:43:48,200 Speaker 1: decide for yourself. Uh. If I think yeah. And so 718 00:43:48,560 --> 00:43:51,240 Speaker 1: if you look at if you look at the past, 719 00:43:51,400 --> 00:43:53,560 Speaker 1: when the i c C was started out with the 720 00:43:53,640 --> 00:43:56,879 Speaker 1: Rome Statute was starting out more properly, you will see 721 00:43:56,880 --> 00:44:01,960 Speaker 1: the Under the Clinton administration, the US was actively trying 722 00:44:01,960 --> 00:44:05,400 Speaker 1: to negotiate on the treaty and they had a pitch. 723 00:44:06,120 --> 00:44:10,120 Speaker 1: They had They had like a they had like a 724 00:44:10,160 --> 00:44:14,520 Speaker 1: pick up artist level pitch. It was brazen. They said, Okay, 725 00:44:14,560 --> 00:44:18,760 Speaker 1: we want the U N. Security Council to screen any 726 00:44:18,840 --> 00:44:21,319 Speaker 1: cases that go before the court. We want them to 727 00:44:21,400 --> 00:44:23,920 Speaker 1: not just refer cases to the court if they wish. 728 00:44:24,200 --> 00:44:26,440 Speaker 1: We want them to be the ones who decide what 729 00:44:26,640 --> 00:44:30,560 Speaker 1: gets to go into this courtroom. And this meant in practice, 730 00:44:30,680 --> 00:44:34,080 Speaker 1: Uncle Sam could just veto anything it didn't like, because 731 00:44:34,080 --> 00:44:37,680 Speaker 1: on the U N. Security Council, one veto is all 732 00:44:37,719 --> 00:44:41,200 Speaker 1: it takes. You don't need three people, three forces voting, 733 00:44:41,239 --> 00:44:43,920 Speaker 1: You just need one to say no. Uh, and that 734 00:44:44,120 --> 00:44:47,720 Speaker 1: deal got rejected because you know, it's an unequal standard 735 00:44:47,800 --> 00:44:50,560 Speaker 1: of justice. That's what other countries saw it as. And 736 00:44:50,680 --> 00:44:53,880 Speaker 1: they saw it that way because they were right. It 737 00:44:54,000 --> 00:44:55,719 Speaker 1: flew in the face of the whole stick of the 738 00:44:55,760 --> 00:44:59,600 Speaker 1: i c C, one uniform standard of justice for all people. 739 00:45:00,400 --> 00:45:03,239 Speaker 1: The Bush administration that became pretty aggressive after that. They 740 00:45:03,920 --> 00:45:09,520 Speaker 1: negotiated all these um they exploited a loophole, a delicious loophole. 741 00:45:09,800 --> 00:45:13,239 Speaker 1: They made a bunch of bilateral agreements with all these 742 00:45:13,239 --> 00:45:16,879 Speaker 1: other countries. Bilateral, just one on one, like Singapore says, 743 00:45:16,920 --> 00:45:21,719 Speaker 1: no matter what happens Australia, you and I have an understanding, right, 744 00:45:22,560 --> 00:45:24,360 Speaker 1: That's what they did. The U S did this with 745 00:45:24,719 --> 00:45:29,279 Speaker 1: tons of countries. There's something called bilateral immunity agreements or 746 00:45:29,440 --> 00:45:34,560 Speaker 1: article agreements. Again, this is a sweet ass loophole. Honestly, 747 00:45:34,719 --> 00:45:38,280 Speaker 1: in the Rome Statute, it's about direct agreements between countries, 748 00:45:38,360 --> 00:45:41,160 Speaker 1: whether or not their signatories to the i c C. 749 00:45:42,160 --> 00:45:46,920 Speaker 1: The Barack Obama administration later makes them less aggross signals. 750 00:45:46,960 --> 00:45:50,480 Speaker 1: But folks, this law is not going to change. Washington 751 00:45:50,560 --> 00:45:54,600 Speaker 1: will not allow US nationals to see a single day 752 00:45:54,800 --> 00:45:57,120 Speaker 1: in the i c C. And they have the juice 753 00:45:57,200 --> 00:46:01,520 Speaker 1: either bribe or bully other countries to agree with this stance. 754 00:46:01,680 --> 00:46:04,640 Speaker 1: Don't what I was thinking about this. Don't be fooled 755 00:46:04,840 --> 00:46:10,080 Speaker 1: by a change of administrations. It's relatively rare for so 756 00:46:10,160 --> 00:46:15,000 Speaker 1: many successive administrations of differing slants and differing parties to 757 00:46:15,200 --> 00:46:19,400 Speaker 1: be a dent down with the same thing. There's a 758 00:46:19,440 --> 00:46:23,160 Speaker 1: reason why. You have to remember political parties often wear 759 00:46:23,239 --> 00:46:26,560 Speaker 1: different colors on their jersey, but they're all playing the 760 00:46:26,680 --> 00:46:29,880 Speaker 1: same sport. And this is I think this is a 761 00:46:30,440 --> 00:46:33,799 Speaker 1: great example of this, whether or not you agree with 762 00:46:33,960 --> 00:46:38,680 Speaker 1: what they're saying. Um this we see the Obama administration 763 00:46:38,760 --> 00:46:43,680 Speaker 1: bring up the Article agreements with the U N and MOLI. 764 00:46:43,840 --> 00:46:46,120 Speaker 1: It keeps going. I mean, we can list, we can 765 00:46:46,160 --> 00:46:48,879 Speaker 1: list the back and force like going up to this year. 766 00:46:48,960 --> 00:46:51,880 Speaker 1: What happened in People want to hear about what happened 767 00:46:51,920 --> 00:46:54,560 Speaker 1: during the Trump administration with this stuff. Yeah, I mean, 768 00:46:54,640 --> 00:46:59,359 Speaker 1: you know, the Trump administration clearly was not okay with 769 00:46:59,360 --> 00:47:01,960 Speaker 1: this whole car except of another body coming in and 770 00:47:02,239 --> 00:47:06,480 Speaker 1: and prosecuting um our government or or individuals who are 771 00:47:06,480 --> 00:47:09,120 Speaker 1: part of it. The Trump administration declared a national emergency 772 00:47:09,120 --> 00:47:12,719 Speaker 1: with an Executive Order UH stating that their concern had 773 00:47:12,760 --> 00:47:15,640 Speaker 1: to do with something you need to be done about 774 00:47:15,719 --> 00:47:20,280 Speaker 1: the quote threat to the national security and foreign policy 775 00:47:20,360 --> 00:47:23,040 Speaker 1: of the United States posed by the i c C. 776 00:47:23,200 --> 00:47:26,920 Speaker 1: So they essentially, you know, cast the i c C 777 00:47:27,160 --> 00:47:30,279 Speaker 1: as an enemy of of the United States. Uh. The 778 00:47:30,360 --> 00:47:33,719 Speaker 1: very next year, um, the current administration, the Biden administration 779 00:47:34,120 --> 00:47:38,279 Speaker 1: did ultimately revoke this executive order, though they still kind 780 00:47:38,280 --> 00:47:40,879 Speaker 1: of caveated the whole thing, saying that the US will 781 00:47:41,040 --> 00:47:44,919 Speaker 1: vigorously protect current and former United States personnel from any 782 00:47:44,960 --> 00:47:50,479 Speaker 1: attempts to exercise such jurisdiction. So, you know, walking back 783 00:47:50,560 --> 00:47:54,080 Speaker 1: the extreme rhetoric of the Trump administration, but essentially returning 784 00:47:54,080 --> 00:47:56,719 Speaker 1: to the status quo of you know, come at US, 785 00:47:56,840 --> 00:47:59,480 Speaker 1: f around and find out in the end, it's the same. 786 00:47:59,600 --> 00:48:02,080 Speaker 1: I mean, they they're all saying the same thing. It's 787 00:48:02,120 --> 00:48:05,439 Speaker 1: just neutering the rhetoric a little better, softening it rather, 788 00:48:05,520 --> 00:48:09,319 Speaker 1: that's all it is. It's just another PR move. It's 789 00:48:09,360 --> 00:48:12,440 Speaker 1: just like, Okay, this is our PR line for this administration. 790 00:48:12,480 --> 00:48:14,680 Speaker 1: We're gonna be a little kinder and gentler and present. 791 00:48:15,200 --> 00:48:17,319 Speaker 1: There were maybe a little more willing to play ball, 792 00:48:17,360 --> 00:48:21,560 Speaker 1: but not really at all. Let's see, it's America's perpetual 793 00:48:21,600 --> 00:48:24,840 Speaker 1: cycle of soft, than hard for a while, then soft again. 794 00:48:26,520 --> 00:48:30,040 Speaker 1: It's all the same. What are they called hummingbirds and 795 00:48:30,080 --> 00:48:34,279 Speaker 1: always sunny fractory period that no no, no, no no no. 796 00:48:34,760 --> 00:48:38,200 Speaker 1: For the one person that that landed with that fellow 797 00:48:38,280 --> 00:48:41,719 Speaker 1: Dennist Reynolds fan, that's for you. Uh So, how about this, 798 00:48:42,360 --> 00:48:46,319 Speaker 1: Since we've met our requisite always study reference, maybe we 799 00:48:46,360 --> 00:48:50,800 Speaker 1: take an ad break here and thus return. Yeah, okay, 800 00:48:50,840 --> 00:48:55,000 Speaker 1: well we'll return to make things even worse. Remember this stuff. 801 00:48:55,000 --> 00:49:05,720 Speaker 1: You're gonna be so fun at parties. We're back refilled 802 00:49:05,760 --> 00:49:09,360 Speaker 1: their coffee. Uh. The third point here we need to 803 00:49:09,400 --> 00:49:12,640 Speaker 1: understand is that if we put aside the argument about serenity, 804 00:49:12,719 --> 00:49:15,160 Speaker 1: which we totally get, we put aside the idea of 805 00:49:15,160 --> 00:49:20,560 Speaker 1: practicality and uh a moral politics, real politics, which we 806 00:49:20,640 --> 00:49:24,399 Speaker 1: totally get. We have to ask, when these high level 807 00:49:24,480 --> 00:49:27,800 Speaker 1: politicians are having a problem with the I c C. 808 00:49:28,600 --> 00:49:31,799 Speaker 1: Who is the US really afraid is going to be targeted? 809 00:49:32,160 --> 00:49:34,759 Speaker 1: Is it really rank and file soldiers you guys? I 810 00:49:34,800 --> 00:49:42,399 Speaker 1: mean for supporters of this act. This doesn't mean in 811 00:49:42,440 --> 00:49:47,160 Speaker 1: any way that a given service member or civilian past 812 00:49:47,280 --> 00:49:51,520 Speaker 1: or present is above the law. Their argument is that, hey, 813 00:49:51,800 --> 00:49:55,520 Speaker 1: we're We're a country already. We have our own courts, 814 00:49:55,600 --> 00:50:00,040 Speaker 1: we have our own legal systems, we have ways to 815 00:50:00,080 --> 00:50:04,040 Speaker 1: bring justice to people who are breaking laws. But as 816 00:50:04,040 --> 00:50:06,960 Speaker 1: you might imagine, not a stance uh Ton of the 817 00:50:06,960 --> 00:50:11,319 Speaker 1: rest of the world agrees with. And then other people say, look, 818 00:50:11,400 --> 00:50:15,319 Speaker 1: this is really this is just a rejection. We're just 819 00:50:15,480 --> 00:50:20,440 Speaker 1: concerned that other nations may want to try to unfairly 820 00:50:20,560 --> 00:50:26,200 Speaker 1: target senior members of the US military political class, uh 821 00:50:26,560 --> 00:50:30,160 Speaker 1: just for any number of decisions or actions, and it 822 00:50:30,200 --> 00:50:34,000 Speaker 1: may just be because their enemies of the US, to 823 00:50:34,200 --> 00:50:38,040 Speaker 1: say the quiet part allowed the big concern was that 824 00:50:38,280 --> 00:50:41,920 Speaker 1: US decision makers, not just the soldiers, the people who 825 00:50:41,960 --> 00:50:46,120 Speaker 1: sent the soldiers, would be on the hook for actions 826 00:50:46,200 --> 00:50:50,080 Speaker 1: in Iraq and Afghanistan. But is this, I mean, is 827 00:50:50,120 --> 00:50:53,239 Speaker 1: this even really a genuine threat? Is this just a 828 00:50:53,320 --> 00:50:57,040 Speaker 1: dollop of political theater? There's something really There are loopholes 829 00:50:57,080 --> 00:51:00,560 Speaker 1: we can talk about later, but that's the whole politicization threat. 830 00:51:00,680 --> 00:51:02,719 Speaker 1: That that that caused the US not to want to 831 00:51:02,719 --> 00:51:05,480 Speaker 1: go all in on the Rome Statute from the start. 832 00:51:05,680 --> 00:51:08,520 Speaker 1: You know, the idea that these types of prosecutions could 833 00:51:08,560 --> 00:51:12,319 Speaker 1: be politicized, even though you know, and Ben I'd love 834 00:51:12,320 --> 00:51:14,719 Speaker 1: to hear your thoughts on this. We had a big 835 00:51:14,760 --> 00:51:17,919 Speaker 1: hand in crafting the statute in the first place. Why 836 00:51:17,960 --> 00:51:22,640 Speaker 1: did we do that if we weren't gonna gonna follow through? 837 00:51:23,239 --> 00:51:25,359 Speaker 1: It's all good till it isn't you know what I mean? 838 00:51:26,480 --> 00:51:33,560 Speaker 1: It's it's consequences are great for other countries. Is is 839 00:51:33,560 --> 00:51:37,800 Speaker 1: is the implication uh in a lot of you in conversations. 840 00:51:37,920 --> 00:51:41,040 Speaker 1: I mean, also, it may be tremendously unnecessary. The whole 841 00:51:41,040 --> 00:51:43,560 Speaker 1: thing is very strange to be the question you posed there, like, 842 00:51:43,719 --> 00:51:47,000 Speaker 1: is it actually the rank and file like soldiers and 843 00:51:47,000 --> 00:51:50,080 Speaker 1: and individuals that were worried would be targeted? Um, of 844 00:51:50,120 --> 00:51:53,920 Speaker 1: course it's this. It's this self regulation that we've seen 845 00:51:54,200 --> 00:51:58,319 Speaker 1: in in in a lot of the history of capitalism, 846 00:51:58,360 --> 00:52:00,719 Speaker 1: right in the industry that wants to sell regulate, so 847 00:52:00,760 --> 00:52:04,880 Speaker 1: it creates a body that the industry's all control. And 848 00:52:04,920 --> 00:52:06,960 Speaker 1: then that body is the thing that's supposed to make 849 00:52:07,000 --> 00:52:10,920 Speaker 1: decisions about what's right and what's wrong within the industry, 850 00:52:11,080 --> 00:52:13,440 Speaker 1: rather than some third party actually looking at it and 851 00:52:13,520 --> 00:52:17,439 Speaker 1: being somewhat of a watchdog. Uh. I feel like we're 852 00:52:17,480 --> 00:52:19,440 Speaker 1: doing kind of the same thing here, just with a 853 00:52:20,239 --> 00:52:23,600 Speaker 1: with a superpower country. Yeah, and That's the reason we're 854 00:52:23,640 --> 00:52:26,120 Speaker 1: able to do that is because we have we were 855 00:52:26,160 --> 00:52:29,799 Speaker 1: able to flex our military might quietly. You know, we're 856 00:52:29,840 --> 00:52:33,520 Speaker 1: not literally threatening anybody, but you know that's understood that 857 00:52:33,520 --> 00:52:36,520 Speaker 1: that's on the table, you know, and it allows us 858 00:52:36,560 --> 00:52:38,400 Speaker 1: to kind of what is it? What is it? Walks 859 00:52:38,400 --> 00:52:41,439 Speaker 1: softly and carry a big stick. Well, well we'll we'll 860 00:52:41,480 --> 00:52:44,640 Speaker 1: definitely get some private contractors to build one. Uh and 861 00:52:44,760 --> 00:52:47,839 Speaker 1: you know, whoever makes the lowest bid on the biggest stick, 862 00:52:48,400 --> 00:52:51,200 Speaker 1: we'll be fine because we the people buying it aren't 863 00:52:51,200 --> 00:52:56,279 Speaker 1: personally gonna have to deal with the consequences health is 864 00:52:56,320 --> 00:53:01,120 Speaker 1: that big stick at least? Right? Uh? This shout out 865 00:53:01,120 --> 00:53:04,000 Speaker 1: the vault. If people like that kind of exploration, if 866 00:53:04,040 --> 00:53:07,759 Speaker 1: they preferred in fiction. Uh So this to read the 867 00:53:07,880 --> 00:53:10,239 Speaker 1: law and a bare bones matter. Though getting back to 868 00:53:10,280 --> 00:53:14,640 Speaker 1: whether or not this is even a necessary conversation. The 869 00:53:15,080 --> 00:53:17,319 Speaker 1: if you look at the way it's written now for 870 00:53:17,440 --> 00:53:20,520 Speaker 1: the i c c s own language, for the UH 871 00:53:20,719 --> 00:53:23,080 Speaker 1: copy or the language of the U s is own 872 00:53:23,160 --> 00:53:27,320 Speaker 1: laws according to its own policies, the i c C 873 00:53:27,719 --> 00:53:31,840 Speaker 1: only as jurisdiction over states that have signed on which 874 00:53:31,880 --> 00:53:35,160 Speaker 1: means that the only way right now legally a U 875 00:53:35,280 --> 00:53:38,200 Speaker 1: S national could go to that court is if they 876 00:53:38,239 --> 00:53:41,640 Speaker 1: were also a national of a country that actually signed 877 00:53:41,640 --> 00:53:44,120 Speaker 1: the treaty. Right, Still, that's not enough for the upper 878 00:53:44,120 --> 00:53:47,759 Speaker 1: halls of the White House. Every administration since two thousand two, 879 00:53:48,080 --> 00:53:51,279 Speaker 1: No fooling, they've been concerned enough about this to make 880 00:53:51,320 --> 00:53:54,640 Speaker 1: this one of the few things upon which they all agree. 881 00:53:54,800 --> 00:53:58,080 Speaker 1: It remains untouched for decades. But I know this is 882 00:53:58,120 --> 00:54:01,160 Speaker 1: a longer episode, but we've got to the reindeer games. 883 00:54:02,000 --> 00:54:04,480 Speaker 1: Here's what would happen if the U. S national ended 884 00:54:04,560 --> 00:54:07,640 Speaker 1: up being captured going to the Hague. Fast forward past 885 00:54:07,719 --> 00:54:09,759 Speaker 1: all the blow hard speeches that we go on for 886 00:54:09,880 --> 00:54:13,040 Speaker 1: months and months, all the dick swinging, all the diplomatic rows. 887 00:54:13,160 --> 00:54:16,600 Speaker 1: Just imagine that stuff doesn't matter. What if the US 888 00:54:16,719 --> 00:54:20,920 Speaker 1: actually sent it in heavy military might. Here's what would happen. 889 00:54:21,200 --> 00:54:24,959 Speaker 1: Funny thing is because the Hague is in Netherlands, which 890 00:54:25,040 --> 00:54:29,879 Speaker 1: is a NATO member country North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Uh, 891 00:54:30,040 --> 00:54:33,839 Speaker 1: they could call in NATO, they could evoke that treaty. 892 00:54:33,920 --> 00:54:37,080 Speaker 1: And the thing about NATO is the most important part 893 00:54:37,080 --> 00:54:40,520 Speaker 1: of it. Is like you've teamed up with some bros 894 00:54:40,560 --> 00:54:42,920 Speaker 1: at a bar and it's a dive bar, and you 895 00:54:43,040 --> 00:54:45,239 Speaker 1: know you might have to get in a fight. So 896 00:54:45,320 --> 00:54:48,040 Speaker 1: you say, hey, bros, let's all you know, like put 897 00:54:48,040 --> 00:54:50,759 Speaker 1: our hands in the circle. Is somebody messages with one 898 00:54:50,800 --> 00:54:53,120 Speaker 1: of us, they mess with all of us. That is 899 00:54:53,160 --> 00:54:56,240 Speaker 1: what NATO is. So and all of our collective big 900 00:54:56,239 --> 00:54:58,880 Speaker 1: sticks will swing them together, you know, as a unit, 901 00:54:59,600 --> 00:55:07,200 Speaker 1: exact stick, hang on. So so if it's perfect, they 902 00:55:07,239 --> 00:55:10,759 Speaker 1: evoked NATO, all the NATO countries come together, because that's 903 00:55:10,760 --> 00:55:13,719 Speaker 1: the big thing. Who and who is that with that 904 00:55:13,760 --> 00:55:17,720 Speaker 1: big stick? Matt who is one of the biggest signatories 905 00:55:17,800 --> 00:55:21,960 Speaker 1: to NATO by any measurement, financial and military. Oh wait, 906 00:55:22,040 --> 00:55:26,160 Speaker 1: it's the US. Wait, this is the guy we're here for. Sorry, bro, 907 00:55:26,920 --> 00:55:30,360 Speaker 1: So the U s would be attacking a NATO ally 908 00:55:30,400 --> 00:55:33,719 Speaker 1: who could in turn invoke the NATO treaty and the 909 00:55:33,800 --> 00:55:36,760 Speaker 1: US what shrug and saying, I guess the real monsters 910 00:55:36,760 --> 00:55:38,640 Speaker 1: were the friends we made along the way, you guys. 911 00:55:39,200 --> 00:55:42,279 Speaker 1: Or maybe would just some old hard case at the 912 00:55:42,360 --> 00:55:45,600 Speaker 1: Joint chiefs of Staff, like turn the lights down a 913 00:55:45,600 --> 00:55:49,200 Speaker 1: little lower and like slowly smoke a cigarette as he 914 00:55:49,280 --> 00:55:52,560 Speaker 1: started to bomb Kansas while he's listening to Michael Jackson's 915 00:55:52,600 --> 00:55:55,080 Speaker 1: The Man in the Mirror. None of that's going to 916 00:55:55,200 --> 00:55:57,800 Speaker 1: make a change. You know, take a look at yourself. 917 00:55:59,360 --> 00:56:03,680 Speaker 1: You don't change. This is who we are. It's fine. 918 00:56:04,560 --> 00:56:09,800 Speaker 1: Uh So it's true. It's it's a weird situation. Find oneself. 919 00:56:09,840 --> 00:56:13,000 Speaker 1: And it's very Heller catch twenty two. Because the US 920 00:56:13,080 --> 00:56:17,440 Speaker 1: has been by far historically the largest single donor to NATO. Uh. 921 00:56:17,480 --> 00:56:22,200 Speaker 1: It's also by itself the largest or most dangerous military 922 00:56:22,239 --> 00:56:26,680 Speaker 1: in the world. Uh. This unless something fundamentally changes. What 923 00:56:26,719 --> 00:56:30,640 Speaker 1: that means is this invade. The Hague law is kind 924 00:56:30,680 --> 00:56:34,120 Speaker 1: of like a warning. It's a line in the sand 925 00:56:34,320 --> 00:56:39,200 Speaker 1: that neither party really intends to cross. Uh. And we 926 00:56:39,239 --> 00:56:43,719 Speaker 1: have to point out also, the US routinely ignores other 927 00:56:43,760 --> 00:56:47,760 Speaker 1: countries sovereignty. It routinely ignores, across the span of history, 928 00:56:47,840 --> 00:56:52,239 Speaker 1: international law to unilaterally enforce its own goals. Whether or 929 00:56:52,280 --> 00:56:54,680 Speaker 1: not you agree with those actions, whether or not you 930 00:56:54,719 --> 00:56:57,120 Speaker 1: think there's a great or good argument. That's just true. 931 00:56:57,200 --> 00:56:59,959 Speaker 1: That's not a hot take. That's why it's laughable the whole, 932 00:57:00,120 --> 00:57:04,480 Speaker 1: Like all of the moralistic posturing around, you know, Russia 933 00:57:04,520 --> 00:57:08,440 Speaker 1: invading Ukraine, it's laughable to me. You know, this idea 934 00:57:08,480 --> 00:57:10,560 Speaker 1: that we're the good guys and we're you know, this 935 00:57:10,760 --> 00:57:14,839 Speaker 1: moral compass of the world. It's just not true. Look 936 00:57:14,840 --> 00:57:17,240 Speaker 1: at history. We do that stuff all the time. You know, 937 00:57:17,440 --> 00:57:20,120 Speaker 1: we were just using this as a talking point. You know, 938 00:57:20,200 --> 00:57:23,440 Speaker 1: that's that's I mean, maybe I'm overstating the case, but 939 00:57:23,480 --> 00:57:27,880 Speaker 1: it sure feels like a big old dose of hypocrisy there. Yeah, 940 00:57:27,960 --> 00:57:32,960 Speaker 1: shout out coalition of the willing. Uh. Internally, also, the 941 00:57:33,040 --> 00:57:36,720 Speaker 1: US doesn't seem all that opposed to the i c 942 00:57:36,920 --> 00:57:41,320 Speaker 1: C when it's convenient. Just this year, is we record 943 00:57:41,400 --> 00:57:45,600 Speaker 1: this back in April? I believe Senate Resolution five four 944 00:57:45,800 --> 00:57:50,919 Speaker 1: six past unanimously. Uh. This was introduced by a guy 945 00:57:51,160 --> 00:57:55,240 Speaker 1: named Lindsey Graham, who is making quite a name for 946 00:57:55,280 --> 00:58:02,200 Speaker 1: himself in politics. Uh. This this resolution again bipartisan, unanimous, 947 00:58:02,240 --> 00:58:07,600 Speaker 1: everybody's on board. Uh. It essentially begs the i c 948 00:58:07,800 --> 00:58:11,280 Speaker 1: SEED implores the ICE and I SEC to take any 949 00:58:11,320 --> 00:58:15,280 Speaker 1: appropriate steps to investigate war crimes and crimes against humanity 950 00:58:15,520 --> 00:58:18,600 Speaker 1: committed by the Russian armed forces and their proxies and 951 00:58:18,720 --> 00:58:24,520 Speaker 1: President Putin's military commanders at the direction of Russian President Putin. 952 00:58:25,360 --> 00:58:27,800 Speaker 1: Russia also is not a signatory to the I c S. 953 00:58:28,600 --> 00:58:32,440 Speaker 1: That's right, rules of convenience. Uh. Now will this support 954 00:58:32,520 --> 00:58:35,920 Speaker 1: continue once the US considers the Russia problem one way 955 00:58:36,000 --> 00:58:40,640 Speaker 1: or another solved. Spoiler probably not. And there's funny thing, 956 00:58:40,800 --> 00:58:44,720 Speaker 1: there's just a little we've got a couple. Uh, we've 957 00:58:44,760 --> 00:58:46,920 Speaker 1: got one chuckle for you here, even though if you 958 00:58:47,000 --> 00:58:49,920 Speaker 1: liked our humor, this whole thing is a chuckle fest. Uh. 959 00:58:50,080 --> 00:58:53,160 Speaker 1: For now, if you walk around the Netherlands, if you 960 00:58:53,240 --> 00:58:59,080 Speaker 1: talk to like pent of the people there, uh again, 961 00:58:59,120 --> 00:59:02,160 Speaker 1: the Hague is basically it's the third largest city after Rotterdam. 962 00:59:02,320 --> 00:59:07,160 Speaker 1: I think if you ask them about this law, and 963 00:59:07,200 --> 00:59:09,480 Speaker 1: they'll probably know a little bit about it, but they're 964 00:59:09,520 --> 00:59:12,920 Speaker 1: not super worried about a US invasion. If you ask 965 00:59:13,000 --> 00:59:15,360 Speaker 1: the average Dutch person what they think about the US, 966 00:59:15,400 --> 00:59:17,400 Speaker 1: will have a lot of things to say, They'll have 967 00:59:17,440 --> 00:59:20,640 Speaker 1: a lot of questions, but none of them will be 968 00:59:20,680 --> 00:59:24,360 Speaker 1: worried about the U. S Military actually storming that city 969 00:59:24,360 --> 00:59:27,640 Speaker 1: because it's it's just not gonna happen. The Netherlands of 970 00:59:27,680 --> 00:59:30,680 Speaker 1: the epitome of chill too, it's the epitome of neutrality, 971 00:59:30,800 --> 00:59:34,960 Speaker 1: you know, like second to like what Switzerland. I mean, seriously, 972 00:59:35,040 --> 00:59:38,400 Speaker 1: it's like weed has been legal there since time immemorial. 973 00:59:38,560 --> 00:59:42,360 Speaker 1: You know, it's like canals and cafes and like you know, 974 00:59:42,600 --> 00:59:45,840 Speaker 1: windmills and stuff and the wooden shoes. I'm sorry, I 975 00:59:45,880 --> 00:59:50,320 Speaker 1: know I'm absolutely stereotyping the Netherlands, but it is a 976 00:59:50,440 --> 00:59:54,360 Speaker 1: very mellow place, which I think is partly why the 977 00:59:54,480 --> 00:59:57,760 Speaker 1: Hague is this kind of, you know, central place for 978 00:59:57,800 --> 01:00:00,200 Speaker 1: the international community to sort of be like, well, they're 979 01:00:00,320 --> 01:00:03,000 Speaker 1: they're not threatening at all, let's just put it there. 980 01:00:03,560 --> 01:00:06,560 Speaker 1: It's still the thing is, it's still on the books. 981 01:00:06,560 --> 01:00:10,000 Speaker 1: Whether or not you think it's an actionable law, Uh, 982 01:00:10,040 --> 01:00:13,919 Speaker 1: it is a real law, and it is a law 983 01:00:14,000 --> 01:00:17,680 Speaker 1: from one of the country's world famous throughout modern history 984 01:00:17,960 --> 01:00:22,400 Speaker 1: for playing judge Dread in any given situation. I am 985 01:00:22,520 --> 01:00:25,760 Speaker 1: the law, says the US all too often, when the 986 01:00:25,800 --> 01:00:28,960 Speaker 1: world said let's all be accountable, the U s took 987 01:00:28,960 --> 01:00:32,560 Speaker 1: a line from Orwell's animal Farm and said, we are 988 01:00:32,680 --> 01:00:37,160 Speaker 1: all accountable, just some of us more than others. And 989 01:00:37,240 --> 01:00:40,680 Speaker 1: that's that's where we have to leave it today. Unfortunately, 990 01:00:41,640 --> 01:00:45,440 Speaker 1: just really quickly, guys, it feels like we've created some 991 01:00:45,520 --> 01:00:48,880 Speaker 1: kind of self fulfilling prophecy with the United States stance 992 01:00:49,040 --> 01:00:51,000 Speaker 1: on the i c C. And then as you described 993 01:00:51,040 --> 01:00:54,960 Speaker 1: the relationship that we have with NATO and how there's 994 01:00:55,000 --> 01:00:58,680 Speaker 1: no real way out what if if, let's say, the 995 01:00:59,120 --> 01:01:04,480 Speaker 1: day come when we do have some high ranking officials 996 01:01:04,480 --> 01:01:06,280 Speaker 1: in the United States that are being sought by the 997 01:01:06,320 --> 01:01:10,240 Speaker 1: i c C. And everybody else except for the United 998 01:01:10,240 --> 01:01:14,360 Speaker 1: States is down because they everyone has agreed those guys 999 01:01:14,360 --> 01:01:15,960 Speaker 1: did some really bad things and they need to be 1000 01:01:16,000 --> 01:01:19,200 Speaker 1: held accountable. If we get to that point and then 1001 01:01:19,240 --> 01:01:22,600 Speaker 1: it's the United States, it feels like we've made a 1002 01:01:22,600 --> 01:01:24,760 Speaker 1: prophecy for us to be the big bad guy that 1003 01:01:24,840 --> 01:01:28,160 Speaker 1: everybody else has to gang up on to defeat, not 1004 01:01:28,160 --> 01:01:30,920 Speaker 1: not right now, but at some point in the future 1005 01:01:31,040 --> 01:01:34,240 Speaker 1: because of the way we've maneuvered our stances with these 1006 01:01:34,240 --> 01:01:38,720 Speaker 1: international organizations. Yeah, but these folks aren't thinking in terms 1007 01:01:38,760 --> 01:01:41,520 Speaker 1: of decades. They're thinking in terms of four years and 1008 01:01:41,600 --> 01:01:44,880 Speaker 1: election cycles. And I was going to ask you, Ben, like, 1009 01:01:44,960 --> 01:01:48,000 Speaker 1: if if there was such a situation, does this whole 1010 01:01:48,080 --> 01:01:51,920 Speaker 1: invade the Hague thing does go away for political reasons? 1011 01:01:52,360 --> 01:01:55,680 Speaker 1: Is it something that gets triggered like automatically, like a 1012 01:01:55,720 --> 01:01:58,080 Speaker 1: fail safe kind of mechanism, or is there some like 1013 01:01:58,680 --> 01:02:01,360 Speaker 1: you know, leeway for like the person in charge to 1014 01:02:01,400 --> 01:02:05,160 Speaker 1: decide whether or not to enact that. Yeah, it's a 1015 01:02:05,200 --> 01:02:08,440 Speaker 1: good question, would be Uh, A lot of domestic furor 1016 01:02:08,640 --> 01:02:11,640 Speaker 1: a lot of a lot of vehement public statements, But 1017 01:02:11,720 --> 01:02:14,280 Speaker 1: then it would be a back room negotiation. The odds 1018 01:02:14,320 --> 01:02:18,280 Speaker 1: against this actually happening again unless something profoundly changes on 1019 01:02:18,320 --> 01:02:21,520 Speaker 1: a fundamental level are enormous. It would be like winning 1020 01:02:22,120 --> 01:02:25,600 Speaker 1: an evil lottery four times in a row. Check the 1021 01:02:25,640 --> 01:02:28,000 Speaker 1: math and tell me how what the odds are there. 1022 01:02:28,040 --> 01:02:30,560 Speaker 1: But still, the most important thing to remember is whether 1023 01:02:30,600 --> 01:02:32,880 Speaker 1: or not this is enacted. This is a law on 1024 01:02:32,920 --> 01:02:35,920 Speaker 1: the books, and that's that's our show, folks. We we 1025 01:02:35,960 --> 01:02:38,760 Speaker 1: obviously cannot wait to hear your thoughts. We have a 1026 01:02:38,760 --> 01:02:42,280 Speaker 1: lot of veterans who listen along with us, We have 1027 01:02:42,320 --> 01:02:44,920 Speaker 1: a lot of people who have traveled throughout the Netherlands, 1028 01:02:44,960 --> 01:02:48,800 Speaker 1: throughout the world, and um, we want to know what 1029 01:02:48,920 --> 01:02:53,880 Speaker 1: you think about this law. But before before we go, uh, 1030 01:02:54,000 --> 01:02:56,480 Speaker 1: we wanna, Matt, I don't want to speak for both 1031 01:02:56,480 --> 01:02:58,920 Speaker 1: of us, But no, Bro, it's very good to have 1032 01:02:59,040 --> 01:03:02,920 Speaker 1: you back, man, Yeah, it's it's good to be back. Um, 1033 01:03:02,920 --> 01:03:07,400 Speaker 1: it's been a crazy couple of weeks. Uh. Very ironically, UM, 1034 01:03:07,440 --> 01:03:09,479 Speaker 1: I'm in a similar position, or in the same exact 1035 01:03:09,560 --> 01:03:12,960 Speaker 1: position that you were in very recently been Um having 1036 01:03:12,960 --> 01:03:14,520 Speaker 1: a moment like this at the end of an episode 1037 01:03:14,520 --> 01:03:19,240 Speaker 1: after being inexplicably gone for a minute. UM, I had 1038 01:03:19,360 --> 01:03:22,600 Speaker 1: a very sad thing happened my family. UM, I lost 1039 01:03:22,680 --> 01:03:26,840 Speaker 1: my mother very suddenly. And UM, you you know, you 1040 01:03:26,920 --> 01:03:31,200 Speaker 1: and Matt have been so supportive and uh so kind 1041 01:03:31,320 --> 01:03:33,120 Speaker 1: and and just you know, been there for me every 1042 01:03:33,120 --> 01:03:35,880 Speaker 1: step of the way and made me feel completely you know, 1043 01:03:35,920 --> 01:03:38,240 Speaker 1: comfortable and taking care of everything that I needed to 1044 01:03:38,520 --> 01:03:40,960 Speaker 1: of course, and UM, you know, I obviously put it 1045 01:03:40,960 --> 01:03:43,240 Speaker 1: out there on the internet, you know, and a lot 1046 01:03:43,280 --> 01:03:46,640 Speaker 1: of listeners and very kind friends, um have reached out 1047 01:03:46,720 --> 01:03:50,160 Speaker 1: and said very very lovely things and have also made 1048 01:03:50,200 --> 01:03:53,160 Speaker 1: me feel very very comforted. UM in this time you know, 1049 01:03:53,200 --> 01:03:56,680 Speaker 1: with my my family, my my daughter, UM, my partner 1050 01:03:56,760 --> 01:04:00,080 Speaker 1: and all of our work friends and extended family have 1051 01:04:00,200 --> 01:04:03,520 Speaker 1: just been incredible. But yeah, it's it's been a very 1052 01:04:03,560 --> 01:04:05,840 Speaker 1: trying couple of weeks. But I'm very very happy to 1053 01:04:05,840 --> 01:04:07,520 Speaker 1: be back. And I can't think the two of you 1054 01:04:07,840 --> 01:04:11,600 Speaker 1: and super broducer Paul uh and alexis enough for just 1055 01:04:11,640 --> 01:04:13,560 Speaker 1: supporting me. You know, while I while I dealt with this, 1056 01:04:13,640 --> 01:04:17,160 Speaker 1: it was not something we saw coming, um, and it 1057 01:04:17,200 --> 01:04:21,919 Speaker 1: was very unexpected turn. But I'm happy to be back 1058 01:04:21,960 --> 01:04:24,360 Speaker 1: and um, you know, still going to be things to 1059 01:04:24,360 --> 01:04:27,000 Speaker 1: to deal with along the way, but uh, I feel 1060 01:04:27,440 --> 01:04:31,120 Speaker 1: utterly supported and seen by our listeners and and by 1061 01:04:31,240 --> 01:04:33,200 Speaker 1: by all of us here on stuff that I don't 1062 01:04:33,200 --> 01:04:34,919 Speaker 1: want you to know. So thanks, thanks to you all, 1063 01:04:34,960 --> 01:04:37,360 Speaker 1: and thanks to all of you out there, and conspiracy 1064 01:04:37,440 --> 01:04:41,200 Speaker 1: Realist Land means the world and we're glad you're here 1065 01:04:41,280 --> 01:04:46,000 Speaker 1: instead of of course invading the hack. Um, I feel 1066 01:04:46,000 --> 01:04:48,480 Speaker 1: like I was considering it. I was considering it as 1067 01:04:48,520 --> 01:04:51,640 Speaker 1: a coping mechanism, but it just seemed like a little 1068 01:04:51,640 --> 01:04:53,840 Speaker 1: bit of extracted I didn't think I quite had the 1069 01:04:53,880 --> 01:04:57,160 Speaker 1: resources to get that done. So I'm so glad you're 1070 01:04:57,200 --> 01:05:00,960 Speaker 1: back here. And over the years now without sounding like you, 1071 01:05:01,040 --> 01:05:05,040 Speaker 1: we become part of a community larger and we could 1072 01:05:05,040 --> 01:05:10,040 Speaker 1: have imagined. And uh, all conspiracy Realist you are part. 1073 01:05:10,120 --> 01:05:12,560 Speaker 1: You are an integral part of that community. We can't 1074 01:05:12,600 --> 01:05:14,800 Speaker 1: wait to hear from you. And I'm sure you you've 1075 01:05:14,840 --> 01:05:16,280 Speaker 1: got some of this as well, Ben, But I mean, 1076 01:05:16,320 --> 01:05:19,040 Speaker 1: I've had folks reach out saying how listening to our 1077 01:05:19,040 --> 01:05:21,760 Speaker 1: show helped them get through the death of a loved 1078 01:05:21,760 --> 01:05:24,000 Speaker 1: one you know, or or you know the death of 1079 01:05:24,000 --> 01:05:27,960 Speaker 1: a close family member, and it goes both ways. I 1080 01:05:28,360 --> 01:05:31,680 Speaker 1: assure you you are the most important part of this show, 1081 01:05:31,760 --> 01:05:34,120 Speaker 1: as Ben you know, says every episode, and that is 1082 01:05:34,160 --> 01:05:37,560 Speaker 1: not hyperbole. Um. And some of the kind words that 1083 01:05:37,640 --> 01:05:40,480 Speaker 1: folks have reached out with feel like the words of 1084 01:05:40,480 --> 01:05:43,400 Speaker 1: of of friends and a family. And it's been very, 1085 01:05:43,480 --> 01:05:45,640 Speaker 1: very meaningful to me. UM. And I thank you from 1086 01:05:45,640 --> 01:05:47,880 Speaker 1: the bottom of my heart, as as do we all 1087 01:05:48,040 --> 01:05:50,040 Speaker 1: you know, for just being part of that community that 1088 01:05:50,160 --> 01:05:53,920 Speaker 1: Ben is referencing here here. Hey, So, if you want 1089 01:05:53,920 --> 01:05:57,160 Speaker 1: to reach out, go ahead and find us on Facebook, Twitter, 1090 01:05:57,360 --> 01:06:00,040 Speaker 1: or YouTube where we are conspiracy stuff on Instagram and 1091 01:06:00,120 --> 01:06:03,120 Speaker 1: we are Conspiracy Stuff show. If you want to call us, 1092 01:06:03,120 --> 01:06:05,640 Speaker 1: our number is one eight three three st d w 1093 01:06:05,960 --> 01:06:08,880 Speaker 1: y t K. Yeah, it's a voicemail system. You'll figure 1094 01:06:08,880 --> 01:06:10,840 Speaker 1: it out. You've got three minutes. Let us know if 1095 01:06:10,840 --> 01:06:12,800 Speaker 1: we can use your voice and message on the air. 1096 01:06:13,400 --> 01:06:15,280 Speaker 1: If you've got more to say than can fit in 1097 01:06:15,320 --> 01:06:17,360 Speaker 1: any of that stuff, why not instead send as a 1098 01:06:17,400 --> 01:06:20,800 Speaker 1: good old fashioned email. We are conspiracy at iHeart radio 1099 01:06:20,880 --> 01:06:41,600 Speaker 1: dot com. Stuff they don't want you to know is 1100 01:06:41,600 --> 01:06:44,640 Speaker 1: a production of I heart Radio. For more podcasts from 1101 01:06:44,640 --> 01:06:47,160 Speaker 1: my heart Radio, visit the i heart Radio app Apple 1102 01:06:47,200 --> 01:06:49,680 Speaker 1: Podcasts or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.