#Investigations: And the U.S. is already helping Ukraine investigate these crimes. While Ukraine is already holding trials of Russians, it wants the ICC involved. But the @nytimes reports the Pentagon is blocking this – why? nytimes.com/2023/03/08/us/…
#USFear: The U.S. has committed atrocity crimes in the past, including in #Iraq and Afghanistan. It fears cooperation now will lead to ICC indictments of U.S. soldiers / citizens later. hrw.org/news/2022/01/0…
#Obligation:
Those fears, while grounded on the reality of past US crimes, are unwarranted. This is a moment when strategic and moral interests converge. The U.S. needs to help hold Russia accountable. It’s the right thing to do. latimes.com/opinion/story/…
My op-ed in @thehill answers #yes. I discuss the politics of naming and differentiate between colloquial, legal, and social scientific understandings -- and their entailments. A thread 1/9 thehill.com/opinion/intern…
First, #colloquial understandings generally center on the killing of innocents. The Holocaust looms large as a prototype, but it can be applied widely to everything from abortion to AIDS. It can also encompass various sorts of mass atrocities 2/9 ushmm.org/genocide-preve…
Because of its capaciousness, the colloquial understanding can be misapplied and politically appropriated – as was the case with Russia’s baseless claims about genocide in Donbas. 3/9 theconversation.com/putins-claims-…