Pompeo Calls Afghan War-Crime Probe Reopening 'Reckless'

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Thursday slammed the International Criminal Court's decision to reinstate a closed war-crimes probe against the U.S. military for alleged systematic torture of Afghanistan detainees, reports USA Today.

The move overturns a lower court decision and allows prosecutor Fatou Bensouda to launch a probe into alleged war crimes committed by the Taliban, Afghan forces, U.S. forces, and CIA personnel.

The ICC is based in Netherlands and has jurisdiction to prosecute individuals for the international crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and the crime of aggression.

"This is a truly breathtaking action by an unaccountable political institution masquerading as a legal body," Pompeo said at the State Department.

"It is all the more reckless for this ruling to come just days after the United States signed a historic peace deal on Afghanistan, which is the best chance for peace in a generation," he said.

The U.S. and the Taliban on Saturday signed an agreement that calls for the withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan after more than 18 years, though the pact hit a potential snag Wednesday after the Taliban conducted 43 attacks on Afghan troops.

The deal, signed by chief negotiators from the two sides and witnessed by Pompeo, could see the withdrawal of all American and allied forces within 14 months and allow President Donald Trump to keep a key campaign pledge to extract the U.S. from "endless wars."

"We still have confidence that the Taliban leadership is working to deliver on its commitments," Pompeo said Thursday. "We're working to deliver on ours.

"We're not naive, everything's got to be verified," he said.

"There will be days when we," he continued, "have to really drive this process forward, but we're determined to do that."

Information from The Associated Press was used in this story.

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