Thread by @CynthiaMN5

We would be a better country if a large majority of the citizens of the United States knew about and understood the Geneva Convention. We helped write some of the language after World War II. We should have followed the protocols we helped write.

Once members of our government and our military decided that torture of Prisoners of War at Guantanamo Bay was acceptable, we were diminished in the world.

The United States has certainly committed many war crimes through war crimes. But the murders and the tortures were done 'covertly' by the CIA and mercenaries.We officially declared war on Iraq. That meant our actions definitely fell under international laws governing war crimes.

Now, any soldier we send in to battle is at risk of being tortured as a prisoner of war. If we don't submit to international rules such as the Geneva Convention, why should other countries?

Sometimes you can gain a great deal by giving up just a small amount of power. If we allow the war criminals of Guantanamo Bay to be tried by the International Criminal Court, we lose some power by submitting to a global international law. But we regain the moral high ground.

Send.

If we acknowledge we committed war crimes at Guantanamo Bay, and allow the criminals involved to be tried in international court, then we have moral standing to criticize Russia, China, and other countries. Otherwise we are being hypocritical, which of course is all too common.

No country has officially declared war against another in the last six years. But it has felt like war. Given some of the crimes that have been committed in the last five years, what is the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court?

If the United States agrees to extradite the criminals who authorized torture in the case of Guantanamo Bay, then we have more credibility has we investigate cybercrimes and other crimes of the last five years. Or of the last twenty years.

Again, giving up a small amount can lead to tremendous moral and strategic gains.

Send.