Blair and Bush to be tried over Iraq

Desmond Tutu calls for Blair and Bush to be tried over Iraq




Archbishop Desmond Tutu has been a long time critic of the war in Iraq

Tony Blair and George W Bush should be taken to the International Criminal
Court in The Hague over the Iraq war, Archbishop Desmond Tutu has said. Writing in the UK's Observer newspaper, he accused the former leaders of lying about weapons of mass destruction.

The Iraq military campaign had made the world more unstable "than any other conflict in history", he said.

Mr Blair responded by saying "this is the same argument we have had many times with nothing new to say".

'Playground bullies' Earlier this week, Archbishop Tutu, a veteran peace campaigner
who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984 in recognition of his campaign
against apartheid, pulled out of a leadership summit in Johannesburg
because he refused to share a platform with Mr Blair.

The former Archbishop of Cape Town said the US- and UK-led
action launched against Saddam's regime in 2003 had brought about
conditions for the civil war in Syria and a possible Middle East
conflict involving Iran.

"The then leaders of the United States [Mr Bush] and Great
Britain [Mr Blair] fabricated the grounds to behave like playground
bullies and drive us further apart. They have driven us to the edge of a
precipice where we now stand - with the spectre of Syria and Iran
before us," he said.

He added: "The question is not whether Saddam Hussein was
good or bad or how many of his people he massacred. The point is that Mr
Bush and Mr Blair should not have allowed themselves to stoop to his
immoral level."

Continue reading the main story “Start Quote

To say that the fact that Saddam
<blockquote>massacred hundreds of thousands of his citizens is irrelevant to the
morality of removing him is bizarre”
</blockquote>
Tony Blair

Archbishop Tutu said the death
toll as a result of military action in Iraq since 2003 was grounds for
Mr Blair and Mr Bush to be tried in The Hague.

But he said different standards appeared to be applied to Western leaders.

He said: "On these grounds, alone, in a consistent world,
those responsible should be treading the same path as some of their
African and Asian peers who have been made to answer for their actions
in The Hague."

In response to Sunday's article, Mr Blair issued a strongly worded defence of his decisions.

He said: "To repeat the old canard that we lied about the
intelligence [on weapons of mass destruction] is completely wrong as
every single independent analysis of the evidence has shown.

'Chemical weapons'
"And to say that the fact that Saddam massacred hundreds of
thousands of his citizens is irrelevant to the morality of removing him
is bizarre.

"We have just had the memorials both of the Halabja massacre,
where thousands of people were murdered in one day by Saddam's use of
chemical weapons, and that of the Iran-Iraq war where casualties
numbered up to a million, including many killed by chemical weapons.

"In addition, his slaughter of his political opponents, the
treatment of the Marsh Arabs and the systematic torture of his people
make the case for removing him morally strong. But the basis of action
was as stated at the time."

He added: "In short this is the same argument we have had
many times with nothing new to say. But surely in a healthy democracy
people can agree to disagree.

"I would also point out that despite the problems, Iraq today
has an economy three times or more in size, with child mortality rate
cut by a third of what it was. And with investment hugely increased in
places like Basra."

Continue reading the main story “Start Quote

It's now almost certain that the war was illegal because it breached the United Nations Charter provisions.”

Sir Geoffrey Bindman
Human Rights Lawyer

Human rights lawyer Sir Geoffrey Bindman told BBC Radio 4 the Iraq war was an illegal aggressive war.

He said a war crimes trial "should be and could be held on
the basis a crime of aggression has been committed and the crime of
aggression was starting the war.

"It's now almost certain that the war was illegal because it
breached the UN Charter provisions which say that all member of the
United Nations must refrain from the use of force against the
territorial integrity or political independence of any state."

Former Lord Chancellor Lord Charles Falconer said he disagreed with Desmond Tutu and Sir Geoffrey.

"The use of force is allowed among other reasons when the
United Nations authorises it, and the United Nations authorised it by
resolution 1441.

"The dispute between Geoffrey and myself would be whether or
not resolution 1441 did or did not authorise war and we say that it did.

"Even that disagreement doesn't give rise to the possibility
of war crimes, the world has very impressively over the last two decades
come together and identified what they mean by war crimes; genocide,
ethnic cleansing, torture and in a variety of ways brought people to
trial for that"


Source:-
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-19454562