Why has the United States not signed and ratified the International Criminal Court?

Question

The [International Criminal Court](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Criminal_Court) (ICC) treaty has been signed by [121 countries](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/States_parties_to_the_Rome_Statute_of_the_International_Criminal_Court). A number of countries are not parties; China, Russia, United States. From the countries that are not parties to the ICC, the United States is one that often tends to associate itself with democracy and rule of law. Therefore, my question is specifically about why the US have not ratified, and not why Cuba, China or Saudi Arabia have not.Why have the United States not signed and ratified the International Criminal Court?

Answer 1

President Bill Clinton signed the Rome Statute giving the ICC it's authority, but without ratification, President Bush was able to "unsign" the Rome Statute in 2002. He did this because he feared that US Nationals in the US Military could be prosecuted for any war crimes committed in Afghanistan.