Iraq War Illegal, says Annan.

[Matilda]

United Nations secretary-general Kofi Annan says the United States
decision to invade Iraq in March 2003 was "illegal".

(snip)

Mr Annan's comments are likely to reignite debate over whether US
President George W Bush, Prime Minister John Howard and British
Prime Minister Tony Blair acted within the bounds of international
law by failing to get a final UN Security Council resolution on
Iraq.

(snip)

Mr Annan says that given the current level of violence and unrest,
it is unlikely that Iraq would be able to hold credible elections
as planned in January 2005.

(snip)

"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."

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200409/s1200210.htm


His comments couldn't have come at a worse time for Bush and Howard,
bless him.

I don't think we'll be seeing the UN going in to Iraq to clean up
Bush's mess any time soon.

[oldhat]

1. And this comes only 18 months late!

Way to go, Annan! Gold star to you!

[wtmusic]

18. He said it 18 months ago, too

3/10/03:

"Kofi Annan declared that, should the UN Security Council fail to agree on a second resolution authorizing the use of force, a war against Iraq would be illegal."

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2003/mar2003/icc-m17.shtml

[Barkley]

22. Better late than never ...

I think Annan is sending a message to the US - UK not to use the UN to invade Iran a la Iraq: fake documents, sex-up dossiers, shock 'n awe bring 'em, Abu Ghraib etc)

[Matilda]

23. I wondered about that too.

If Latham becomes our PM, Australia won't be there, and I'm not
sure even Howard would do it again, for all his public posturing.
And probably not Blair, because he's not quite out of the woods
yet on Iraq although he's now trying to pretend it's not there.
So Bush's only possible ally on this would be Sharon - talk about
an unholy alliance.

[Vincardog]

2. Finally calling a Spade a Spade

Or an illegal imperialistic war an illegal imperialistic war of aggression

[gmoney]

3. Kofi should have arrested Bush while he was in NYC

War criminal to the Nth degree

[leesa]

8. Absolutely. Why hasn't Bush been arrested? Do we need to do what the

Israelis did with the Nazis? Hunt them down and abduct them in order to put them on trial??

[wtmusic]

17. Until July 1st of this year the US was immune to prosecution

on war crimes.

[ILeft]

9. Exactly. After all, Bush has said he's the "war" president...

...and illegal acts are committed by "criminals." Sounds like the United Nations secretary-general is telling the world that George W. Bush is a war criminal. What's the next step???

[cal04]

4. try telling that now to all these people , you could have saved

so many American and Iraqi lives had you have done this in the first place.

Distraught Iraqis blame US as more innocent blood is shed
Baghdad residents refuse to believe evidence indicating local insurgents mounted attack AHMAN Mohammad, his chubby, 20-year-old face scarred with burn marks, his arms charred to the bone, lies on a blood-stained bed at Karkh Hospital and tries to make sense of the day’s horror, etched in his mind like a Hieronymus Bosch painting. "Human beings were piled one on top of the other like pieces of meat," he says, shivering. "I’m all choked up with shock. I saw it with my own eyes." On the site of the explosion near a police recruiting station that killed dozens, bodies and remains of the dead were hauled away. Despite a mountain of evidence to the contrary, witnesses and residents blamed the United States for the attack. "This was a peaceful, modest lower-middle-class neighbourhood where everyone cared about everyone," raged Hossein Ali Hossein, 41, a train driver who was sitting in a tea shop when the explosion occurred.

"I was born here," he said. "This explosion has changed everything in this neighbourhood forever." Hours earlier, Iraqi men had crowded around a police recruiting station. Carrying red and blue folders familiar to those navigating Iraq’s bureaucracy, they were trying to apply for jobs with the new police force. Many had retired to the comfort of a teahouse to avoid the sun and possible attacks on the recruiting station. It was at the teahouse that the explosion struck. At the scene near the police building in Haifa Street, a Baghdad area known as a haven for guerrillas and criminals, there was a nauseating odour of burnt flesh, and streaks of blood covered the streets and pavements.

The blast killed at least 47 people, making it the deadliest single attack in the Iraqi capital in six months. Grieving and tearful civilians, along with emergency workers, collected corpses and body parts, including a severed head that lay near one of the 15 or so shops crushed by the explosion.

"There were some kids playing billiards," said Ehsan Adnan, a distraught 38-year-old who runs a music shop badly damaged in the blast. "They were killed. There were young men waiting to join the police force. They were killed. There were customers in my shop. They died as well." He threw his broken drums and trumpets across his tiny shop. "Who can accept this?" he bellowed. "Does Jesus accept this? Does Moses accept this?" US Apache helicopters hovered above the chaotic scene, which some were attempting to turn into a political rally. "Down with Allawi, down with Bush," one man chanted. Graffiti on the building next to a local mosque spelled out "Long Live Bin Laden". "We blame the occupation forces and the Iraqi interim government for this explosion," said Abdul Fareed, a resident of the area. "We ask them to remove this police facility from this area because it’s a densely populated area." Some said a US helicopter had launched an air strike on the crowd, just as it had bombed Iraqis standing atop a burning Bradley fighting vehicle in nearby Haifa Street on Sunday. "It was an American rocket, American rocket," young men screamed. "It was the Americans." But the cheap, unpolished shrapnel from the explosion indicated clearly that it was Iraqi-made ordnance, most likely leftovers from deposed Iraqi president Saddam Hussein’s arsenal packed into a car, the style favoured by Iraq’s suicide bombers. Some bystanders shook their heads in disgust at those who blamed the attack on the US instead of the insurgents.

[leesa]

5. Yes. We have known this for a long time. Now what?

[stellanoir]

6. phew and damn straight. . .

phew 'cause-I feared that the national press would ignore this as I had only seen it on the BBC and the scotsman earlier.

damn straight 'cause-these bozo's have violated every aspect of international law and are truly warmongering criminals.

hope this has some legs 'cause it's the truth.

[RaRa]

7. Like father like son.

The UN condemned our invasion of Panama as illegal too. Fine family, those Bushits.

[BBG]

10. No Amnesty

And let's be clear on this, no amnesty should be granted to anyone on this. When the perpwalk to the Hague takes place none of these feckless fiends should be excused. Let them be judged for their deeds truly and properly.

[NNN0LHI]

11. There will be no perp walk to The Hague

As an astute DUer named TahitiNut has correctly pointed out, an international court such as The Hague is only used when there is no other credible court to handle such cases.

We have credible courts and should do just fine prosecuting these criminals ourselves.

Hope a perp walk at Leavenworth will do?

Don

[cal04]

12. Iraq invasion entirely 'valid', Howard says

Prime Minister John Howard has rejected comments from the United Nations secretary-general Kofi Annan that the war in Iraq was illegal.Mr Annan told the BBC the last UN Security Council resolution before the war warned of serious consequences if Iraq was found to have breached earlier resolutions.

He says without a new resolution specifying the consequences, the invasion was "illegal".Mr Howard told Southern Cross Radio he does not agree."The legal advice that we had, and I tabled it at the time, was that the action was entirely valid in international law terms," he said.

"That was a legal opinion we obtained from the relevant people in Australia. There had been a series of Security Council resolutions and the advice we had was that it was entirely legal."
Mr Annan said the decision by the US, Britain and Australia to go ahead and invade Iraq did not conform with the Security Council or the UN charter, one of the cornerstones of international law.

"I've indicated that it was not in conformity with the UN charter from our point of view, and from the charter point of view it was illegal," he said.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200409/s1200460.htm

[Matilda]

15. Howard would say that, wouldn't he?

He means "the people whose arms I had successfully twisted told
me it was legal, the others who disagree can go to hell."

The weasel.

[Moonbeam_Starlight]

13. This is only being reported in

the UK, Australia, China and India.

Why is it not being reported here?

Anyone taking bets on whether this will make headlines tomorrow? Or even be a blurb?

[skooooo]

14. Because few people in the U.S...

...give a damn about what the UN says.

[AlFrankenFan]

16. A little late...BUT IT'S ABOUT TIME SOMEONE REMOVED THEIR HEAD FROM THEIR

ASS IN THIS ADMINISTRATION!

:wtf:

[belab13]

19. No shit!... pardon my language.

[sampsonblk]

20. Only 18 months too late!

He should have said that before!

[Dem2theMax]

21. Media Blaster time.

:kick:
and done.

[Moderator]

24. Duplicate

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=829639