UN's ANNAN: IRAQ ATTACK ILLEGAL

I can't believe I haven't written about my feelings about the International-legality of the Iraq Attack before now. Over a year ago on my defunct "The 5 Minute Show" I did a whole episode (all 5 minutes!) about how in attacking Iraq, the US broke the UN Charter, which the US helped write. The Iraq Attack also broke Constitutional law, since the US Constitution says that any treaty or agreement the US signs becomes a domestic law, as well. So, not only is George W. Bush an international criminal by definition, he's also a domestic criminal, too.

To be clear, this is not my opinion. International Law and the Constitution are very clear on this. What follows is taken directly from the UN website. It is Chapter 1, Article 2 of the UN Charter and I've bolded (sp??) the important bits:

Article 2
The Organization and its Members, in pursuit of the Purposes stated in Article 1, shall act in accordance with the following Principles.

1. The Organization is based on the principle of the sovereign equality of all its Members.

2. All Members, in order to ensure to all of them the rights and benefits resulting from membership, shall fulfill in good faith the obligations assumed by them in accordance with the present Charter.

3. All Members shall settle their international disputes by peaceful means in such a manner that international peace and security, and justice, are not endangered.

4. All Members shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state, or in any other manner inconsistent with the Purposes of the United Nations.

5. All Members shall give the United Nations every assistance in any action it takes in accordance with the present Charter, and shall refrain from giving assistance to any state against which the United Nations is taking preventive or enforcement action.

6. The Organization shall ensure that states which are not Members of the United Nations act in accordance with these Principles so far as may be necessary for the maintenance of international peace and security.

7. Nothing contained in the present Charter shall authorize the United Nations to intervene in matters which are essentially within the domestic jurisdiction of any state or shall require the Members to submit such matters to settlement under the present Charter; but this principle shall not prejudice the application of enforcement measures under Chapter Vll.

1) Since Iraq, even under the rule of Saddam Husein was a sovereign member of the UN, his sovereignty being violated by another member of the UN constitutes a violation of this part of the UN Charter.

3) This is a good one. Basically, by using military force to "settle" a dispute, Bush broke this part of the UN Charter as well.

4) This is the big one and it's clearly been broken by Bush.

George W. Bush is a criminal, by definition.

Finally, someone "important" has grown enough of a spine to state this publically, on the record.

The following excerpt comes from a BBC News article--you can bet you won't be hearing about this in American news:

When pressed on whether he viewed the invasion of Iraq as illegal, [Annan] said: "Yes, if you wish. I have indicated it was not in conformity with the UN charter from our point of view, from the charter point of view, it was illegal."

Annan is still a raging puss for not standing up to the US and saying something more like "J'ACCUSE!"

I mean, sure, we're the US, but what is the political career of one man? Does Annan really want future historians to look back and scratch their heads wondering whether he was a good guy or not? I wouldn't. That's why I'm such a loudmouth with my opinions.

Of course, as I said, this isn't my opinion, it's a fact.

George W. Bush is a criminal.

Thank you and good night.



From BBC News:

Last Updated: Thursday, 16 September, 2004, 02:12 GMT 03:12 UK

Iraq war illegal, says Annan

The United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan has told the BBC the US-led invasion of Iraq was an illegal act that contravened the UN charter.

He said the decision to take action in Iraq should have been made by the Security Council, not unilaterally.

And he feared elections planned for January would not go ahead in Iraq unless security considerably improved.

The UK government responded by saying the attorney-general made the "legal basis... clear at the time".

Mr Annan said that "painful lessons" had been learnt since the war in Iraq.

"Lessons for the US, the UN and other member states. I think in the end everybody's concluded it's best to work together with our allies and through the UN," he said in an interview with the BBC World Service.

'On track'

"I hope we do not see another Iraq-type operation for a long time - without UN approval and much broader support from the international community."

When pressed on whether he viewed the invasion of Iraq as illegal, he said: "Yes, if you wish. I have indicated it was not in conformity with the UN charter from our point of view, from the charter point of view, it was illegal."

Mr Annan said the UN would give advice and assistance in the run-up to the elections, but it was up to the Iraqi interim government to decide whether such a vote should go ahead.

He warned there could not be "credible elections if the security conditions continue as they are now".

In response, a UK foreign office spokeswoman said: "The Attorney-General made the government's position on the legal basis for the use of military force in Iraq clear at the time".

She also said there was a full commitment to holding elections in January, with election and political party laws already passed and an independent electoral commission established.

"The task is huge and the deadline tight, but the Iraqi people clearly want elections," she said.

Earlier on Wednesday, the head of the British army General Sir Mike Jackson said national elections in Iraq were still on track.

He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "People are pretty confident that they can take place if everybody puts in the required effort and arrangements into it."

His comments came a day after a car bomb close to an Iraqi police station in central Baghdad killed 47 people and gunmen opened fire on a police minibus in Baquba, killing 12.

At the beginning of the week, Iraq's interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi said elections must go ahead as planned although he conceded the violence might stop some Iraqis voting.

"If, for any reason, 300,000 people cannot vote because terrorists decide so - and this is imposing a very big if - then frankly 300,000 people is not going to alter 25 million people voting," he told The Times and Guardian newspapers.

"There are problems, yes. But to the point that we can't conduct an election? I don't think so."

Mr Annan also spoke of the Middle East road map to peace during his BBC interview, admitting it was in "deep, deep distress".

But he added "we haven't given it up yet", and said the quartet of powers behind the road map - the US, UN, EU and Russia - would meet next week to assess the situation and how to take it forward.

© BBC MMIV