I already tagged a link to an educational short on why the Iraq War is illegal, but I’m afraid I didn’t do it justice with just a simple link. I’m not sure if there was a straw that broke the camel’s back, but I feel I have to make a clear public statement and call to action here.
First let us start with Two theses:
Thesis 1
If the invasion of Iraq by the US was a violation of the UN Charter
AND the UN Charter is a legally binding document
(under both US and International law)
Then the current US military involvement in Iraq is an Illegal War.
Thesis 2
If the US invasion and ongoing occupation of Iraq is an Illegal War,
Then the architects of that invasion
(including but not limited to President Bush and Vice President Cheney)
are War Criminals. Furthermore, US troops actively participating in the occupation of Iraq are (perhaps unwitting) War Criminals.
If you accept that the above Theses are true and correct, then you need to jump directly to my call to action: Impeachment of President Bush and Vice President Cheney for War Crimes. Fortunately that’s not pie-in-the-sky. Here’s a local group that’s actively working to bring that about. Please do sign up. If you’re interested in taking action at UNC, talk to me and we can get something else going. If you have doubts about the wisdom of pursuing Impeachment, please read this article before expressing your doubts to me, and I do encourage you to talk to me.
Please note that I am not trying to be insulting or disparaging of anyone. I particularly wish to express my respect and admiration for individuals serving in our armed forces.
If you’re not convinced that the Theses are valid, read on. Let’s look at Thesis 1 first.
- Article VI of of our constitution states in part: “This Constitution […] and all treaties made, or which shall be made, under the authority of the United States, shall be the supreme law of the land.”
- The US is one of the original signatories to the UN charter, which is a document that is clearly a treaty as per Article VI above. Furthermore, participation in and support of the UN by the US is ongoing.
- intermediate conclusion A: The US is bound by law to uphold the UN Charter. Stated another way, the UN Charter is part of the “supreme law of the land” of the US.
- Article 2 of the UN Charter, specifically through the third and fourth principles therein, demands that member states resolve conflicts peacefully and without the threat or use of force. There are two exceptions to this rule.
- The second but more obvious exception is in Article 51 of the UN Charter, which states in part, “Nothing in the present Charter shall impair the inherent right of individual or collective self-defence if an armed attack occurs against a Member of the United Nations.”
- The second exception is spread across various Articles in Chapter 7 of the Charter, notably 43-45, and it is essentially that member states may use force if authorized to do so by the UN Security Council.
- intermediate conclusion B: Member states using force without Security Council authorization and while not acting in self defense are acting in violation of the UN Charter.
- There was never a Security Council resolution authorizing the use of force in Iraq.
- At no point between 2001 and the invasion and occupation of Iraq in 2003 by the US did Iraq or anyone acting on orders from the Iraqi government attack the US in such a manner as to warrant use of force for self defense.
- UPDATED WITH LINK: At no point between 2001 and the invasion and occupation of Iraq in 2003 by the US did President Bush or Vice President Cheney legitimately believe that the sovereign nation of Iraq posed an imminent, serious threat to the US, and furthermore, even if they had held such beliefs, it would not have been sufficient to warrant use of force for self defense under the UN Charter
- Then Secretary General of the UN Kofi Annan clearly expressed his belief that the US invasion and occupation of Iraq was in violation of the UN Charter.
- intermediate conclusion C: The US invasion and ongoing occupation of Iraq is in violation of the UN Charter.
- conclusion: The ongoing occupation of Iraq by the US is an Illegal War.
Now Thesis 2 is rather Trivial:
- Thesis 1 above has been demonstrated to be true.
- conclusion: Bush and Cheney are War Criminals
Good night… and good luck.
Starhawk | 08-Sep-07 at 7:08 pm | Permalink
Yep, I agree and have been saying exactly that and more for a long time now. Bush and Cheney need prosecuted and the fact this is unlikely makes a mockery of the notion of “justice” which they obviously spell as just-us.
Magnus | 09-Sep-07 at 8:42 am | Permalink
When was war ever declared? When did Congress live up to its powers delegated to it in Article I, Section 8 of our Constitution?
None of this ever happened. Legally, at least according to our own law, we’re not at war. We haven’t been at war since World War II. Our involvement in Vietnam, Korea, Kuwait, Iraq, etc… Congress never declared war.
Yet Congress continues to fund these undeclared wars.
You can’t just take out the president and vice president. The blame extends to the previous Republican congress and more worryingly the current Democrat controlled congress that got into power on the promise of quickly ending the war. Yeah, how’s that plan going? Not so well.
But We The People haven’t been holding our elected officials to the standards of the Constitution for several generations now, so why should we expect the current batch of congresscritters to be any different?
tarheelcoxn | 09-Sep-07 at 2:01 pm | Permalink
You’ll note that my argument isn’t dependent on us being in a declared state of war. The argument merely hangs on our participation in the UN (ie. the status of the UN Charter as binding domestic law) and the Invasion and Occupation of Iraq as a violation of that Charter.
The President might use the complicity of a previous Congress as an affirmative defense, but he would still be accepting his status as a War Criminal.
Magnus | 09-Sep-07 at 3:24 pm | Permalink
I wasn’t disagreeing with or contradicting with your point at all. Just making an additional point that the pooch screw is even broader in scope than that, and for those of us who place US sovereignty higher than international law, there are plenty of reasons to throw elected officials in jail based solely on US law.
There are plenty of laws being broken here to offend anyone of almost any political persuasion.
tarheelcoxn | 09-Sep-07 at 4:52 pm | Permalink
That makes me an even more sad puppy.
Still… shouldn’t we start the accountability train somewhere? Isn’t most logical to start with the people who led us into this illegal occupation?
Magnus | 10-Sep-07 at 8:54 am | Permalink
No matter perspective you are starting from, yes, Bush & Cheney should be removed from office and face additional criminal charges.
Current and former members of the Bush administration should be investigated for their roles in this.
Voters should be furious over this and they’re really not. Most people just want to be ruled. They’ll gripe and complain but then the people in power distract them with something else like a surge in gasoline prices or something just as unimportant and the important issues disappear from the national consciousness.
Big media is complicit in this, absolutely.
The issues were much smaller than this, and upset fewer people, back in the 18th century when we were just a bunch of colonists under the British crown.
Linda Muir | 14-Nov-07 at 1:24 am | Permalink
Thank goodness there are people like you to take on the unbelievable mess of Impeachment and/or War Criminals. I believe the president should be Impeached but after Cheney is Impeached. Our country is being run by mad men. We have everything to proceed. Where do we go from here?