United States President Bill Clinton signed the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (‘Rome Statute’) on December 31 December 2000, the last day that the Rome Statute was open for signature. Shortly after the Bush Administration entered office and just before the 1 July 2002 entry into force of the Rome Statute, US President George W. Bush “nullified” the Clinton signature on 6 May 2002. Since 2002, the United States has launched a full-scale multi-pronged campaign against the International Criminal Court, claiming that the ICC may initiate politically-motivated prosecutions against US nationals.

Another facet of the US crusade against the Court is the adoption of two legislation known as the American Servicemembers' Protection Act and the Nethercutt Amendment.

http://www.iccnow.org/?mod=usaicc&PHPSESSID=2fa88fa7af8df524cf60f2b41049...

THE CRIME OF AGGRESSION:
WHAT IS IT AND WHY DOESN'T THE U.S. WANT THE INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT TO PUNISH IT?

Marjorie Cohn
Thomas Jefferson School of Law

From February 26 through March 8, the Preparatory Commission for the International Criminal Court met in an attempt to forge agreement on defining and punishing the crime of aggression. The Rome Statute for the ICC, written in 1998, will take effect after ratification by 60 states. It specifies the Court will hear charges of genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and the crime of aggression. But the drafters, unable to agree on a definition and scheme for punishing aggression, left that to an amendment process which allows statutory changes to become operative seven years after the Statute takes effect.

The United States has sought to ensure the ICC's legal processes do not jeopardize its role as global superpower by subjecting U.S. leaders to prosecution. It has consistently resisted definitions and jurisdictional provisions that may challenge U.S. impunity for wars of aggression.

http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/forum/forumnew18.HTM