::> War crime charges; can't say you weren't warned, Tony!

LynnTheDem (1000+ posts)

Mon Jun-02-08 04:13 AM Original message

War crime charges; can't say you weren't warned, Tony!

October 19, 2005; British Law lord damns "illegal Iraq war' One of Britain’s most senior judges last night accused ministers of producing “half-baked” criminal justice reforms and then blaming judges for the failings of the system. Lord Steyn, a law lord, also launched a scathing attack on ministers over the Iraq war, accusing them of “scraping the bottom of the legal barrel” to justify their case. He said it was a “fairytale” to suggest that the Iraq war did not make London a “more dangerous place”. Lord Steyn echoed the views of Lord Alexander of Weedon, QC, his predecessor at Justice, with a robust attack on the legality of the Iraq war. Lord Alexander’s view that the war was illegal “reflected the overwhelming view of international lawyers and was undoubtedly correct”. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-1832270,00.ht... British military chief reveals new legal fears over Iraq war The man who led Britain's armed forces into Iraq has said that Tony Blair and the Attorney General, Lord Goldsmith, will join British soldiers in the dock if the military are ever prosecuted for war crimes in Iraq. In a remarkably frank interview that goes to the heart of the political row over the Attorney General's legal advice, Admiral Sir Michael Boyce, the former Chief of the Defence Staff, said he did not have full legal cover from prosecution at the International Criminal Court. 'If my soldiers went to jail and I did, some other people would go with me,' said Boyce. Pressed by The Observer on whether he meant the Prime Minister and the Attorney General, Boyce replied: 'Too bloody right.' http://observer.guardian.co.uk/politics/story/0,6903,14... Mr. Lord Goldsmith admitting regime change would be ILLEGAL; http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=457242005 "The attorney general, Lord Goldsmith, warned less than two weeks before the invasion of Iraq that military action could be ruled illegal. The government was so concerned that it might be prosecuted it set up a team of lawyers to prepare for legal action in an international court." http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2005/feb/23/uk.iraq3 A few others warned you, too, Tony. But you weren't listening; War on Iraq was illegal, say world's top lawyers -Professor Philippe Sands QC Director of the Centre on International Courts and Tribunals, University College London -Professor Robert Black QC Professor of Scots law, Edinburgh University, and architect of the Lockerbie trial in The Hague -Professor Sean Murphy Associate professor of law at George Washington University, Washington DC -Professor Vaughan Lowe Chichele Professor of Public International Law, All Souls College, Oxford -Professor James Crawford Whewell Professor of International Law, Jesus College, Cambridge -Professor Mary Kaldor Professor of global governance, London School of Economics http://www.globalpolicy.org/security/issues/iraq/attack... Canadian law professors declare US-led war illegal The US-led coalition’s war against Iraq is illegal, declared 31 Canadian professors of international law at 15 law faculties. A US attack “would be a fundamental breach of international law and would seriously threaten the integrity of the international legal order that has been in place since the end of the Second World War,” http://www.casi.org.uk/discuss/2003/msg01357.html Australian legal experts declare an invasion of Iraq a war crime Forty-three Australian experts in international law and human rights legislation have issued a declaration that an invasion of Iraq will be an open breach of international law and a crime against humanity... ...the indictment of the German Nazi leaders at the 1945-1949 Nuremberg War Crimes Trials was precisely for carrying out preemptive military strikes against neighbouring countries. They were tried and convicted of “planning, preparation, initiation or waging of a war of aggression, or a war in violation of international treaties, agreements or assurances”. http://law.anu.edu.au/cipl/Media/Waging%20war%20crimes%... Iraq War Illegal, Lawyers Say Most experts in international law say they are not convinced either by the argument that military action against Iraq is authorized by earlier U.N. resolutions nor that the U.N. Charter allows self-defense against a perceived future threat. http://middleeastinfo.org/article2270.html Even your partner in crime, Tony... Jack Straw admits case for war in Iraq is weak http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article9126.ht... No Tony, you can't say you weren't warned...so I bet this didn't come as a shock; http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph... You and your war criminal pal John Howard; decieing your own people, sending your own people to kill & be killed in a "supreme crime" war of aggression, making your nations & your people very much less safe. Was lockstepping with the bush regime truly worth all that plus your souls?