White House spokesperson Ari Fleischer was asked on July 3 2002: “What the President said yesterday was that he didn't want to see American soldiers or diplomats dragged into this court [the International Criminal Court].”

Ari Fleischer: “That's correct.”

The journalist further asked: “Are we seeking immunities for American diplomats in the Security Council? Or is that part of peace-keeping?”

Ari Fleischer: “The Security Council is focused on the peace-keepers, but there is a broader concern about civilians who could similarly be targeted arbitrarily by the International Criminal Court for prosecution, even as a non-participating nation. Our concern applies, as we've said I think last week, to both military, peace-keeping elements in the military, as well as to civilians, which, of course, would include diplomats.

On August 12, U.S. State Department deputy spokesperson, Philip T. Reeker, said: “The United States is committed to effective action against war crimes and crimes against humanity. We very much respect States that have acceded to their own statute, creating the International Criminal Court. We respect their sovereign decision to do so. But we hope they'll respect our decision not to accede to that statute, and we hope they'll respect our decision to avail ourselves of the procedure made available by the statute to prevent our nationals from falling into the potentially highly politicized jurisdiction of that Court.