Oh great, John Bolton is going to trash the ICC. That’s a good look.

John Bolton, the hawkish US national security adviser, will threaten the international criminal court (ICC) with sanctions when he makes an excoriating attack on the institution in a speech in Washington.

According to drafts of his speech, Bolton will push for sanctions over an ICC investigation into alleged American war crimes in Afghanistan. He is also expected to announce on Monday the closure of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) office in Washington because of its calls for an ICC inquiry into Israel.

“The United States will use any means necessary to protect our citizens and those of our allies from unjust prosecution by this illegitimate court,” Bolton will say, according to a draft of his speech seen by Reuters.

How is the ICC illegitimate? It’s illegitimate because it dares to investigate something the US did. Nobody has any right to investigate anything the US does, because the US is Sacred. In case this isn’t clear, just look at Trump and Mueller. It’s the same principle – Mueller has no right to investigate anything Trump does, because Trump is Sacred. How is he Sacred? He just is, that’s all, and asking questions about it is illegitimate.

“The United States will always stand with our friend and ally, Israel,” the draft text continues. It says the Trump administration “will fight back” if the ICC formally proceeds with opening an investigation into alleged war crimes committed by US military and intelligence staff during the war in Afghanistan.

No investigation allowed, because John Bolton says so.

Bolton is expected to propose that the Trump administration bans ICC judges and prosecutors from entering the US, impose sanctions on any funds they have in the States and prosecute them in the American court system.

“We will not cooperate with the ICC. We will provide no assistance to the ICC. We will not join the ICC. We will let the ICC die on its own. After all, for all intents and purposes, the ICC is already dead to us,” Bolton’s draft text says.

That’s grown-up foreign policy right there: the ICC is dead to us. You are dead to us, ICC! Don’t even try to call, we won’t answer!

The UN-backed court’s remit is to bring to justice the perpetrators of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. The US did not ratify the Rome treaty that established the ICC in 2002. The then president George W Bush was strongly opposed to the court. President Barack Obama subsequently took measures to improve cooperation with the organisation.

And we can’t have that.