Sharing a report that the U.S. will share evidence of alleged Russian war crimes in Ukraine with the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) wrote:
“Glad that @POTUS is reiterating U.S. support for the Ukrainian people and for accountability with this move. Putin and his henchmen must be held to account for the more than 92,000 documented war crimes committed in Ukraine.”
Durbin linked to an article in the New York Times that said the Biden administration move signaled a “major shift in American policy.”
Glad that @POTUS is reiterating U.S. support for the Ukrainian people and for accountability with this move.
— Senator Dick Durbin (@SenatorDurbin) July 27, 2023
Putin and his henchmen must be held to account for the more than 92,000 documented war crimes committed in Ukraine. https://t.co/N2hgM11sCV
Durbin’s post was not without detractors, with many commenters lamenting the U.S. involvement in the war and one specifically asking: “And what about war crimes Ukraine may commit by the use of cluster bombs provided by the U.S.?”
Another wrote: “I’ve voted for you multiple times but you really don’t represent my interests in this Ukrainian stuff. We need out of there.”
Rhode Island Senator Sheldon Whitehouse shared the same Times article while revealing he has been actively pushing for this action.
“Good news,” Whitehouse wrote, “I visited the ICC, met with the Prosecutor General in DC, helped Graham/Coons/Durbin get ICC cooperation in the Approps bill, protested noncompliance in hearings, and wrote to the President. Nice to see the dam break.”
Good news. I visited the ICC, met with the Prosecutor General in DC, helped Graham/Coons/Durbin get ICC cooperation in the Approps bill, protested noncompliance in hearings, and wrote to the President. Nice to see the dam break.https://t.co/BEyibcXZeV
— Sheldon Whitehouse (@SenWhitehouse) July 27, 2023
Whitehouse’s post met with more approbation in the comments — “long overdue,” wrote one commenter, a representative opinion.
But there was still resistance to cheering the action, with some objecting that the U.S. had its own share of similar problems with references to the Bush/Cheney Iraq invasion and the treatment of migrants at the southern border.
