Obama defends Iraq War in Europe speech [View all]

[Enrique]

on a day when liberals everywhere, including me, are defending Obama against Rumsfeld, Obama defends Rummy's indefensible war.

http://news.firedoglake.com/2014/03/26/president-obama-denounces-russia-defends-iraq-war-as-legal/

President Barack Obama gave a speech today in Brussels where he denounced Russia and defended the 2003 Iraq War as legal and done while working within the international system. The speech comes after the Crimea was annexed by Russia under a controversial referendum and American neoconservatives have criticized the Obama Administration as naive and ineffective.

The remarks on Iraq came as Obama responded to complaints by the Russian government and others that America’s position on respecting sovereignty was hypocritical given the 2003 Iraq War.

Russia has pointed to America’s decision to go into Iraq as an example of Western hypocrisy. Now, it is true that the Iraq war was a subject of vigorous debate, not just around the world but in the United States, as well. I participated in that debate, and I opposed our military intervention there.

But even in Iraq, America sought to work within the international system. We did not claim or annex Iraq’s territory. We did not grab its resources for our own gain. Instead, we ended our war and left Iraq to its people in a fully sovereign Iraqi state that can make decisions about its own future.

Worked within the international system? So if Russia had gone to the UN to get a resolution, failed, then annexed Crimea it would have been OK?