“The Iraq War Was Unlawful”

UK Chilcot Inquiry: “The Iraq War Was Unlawful”. Unanimous Legal Opinion of Foreign Office Lawyers

Cameron government is blocking publication of their “official” report

By Carl Herman

Global Research, January 04, 2013

Washington's Blog

Region: Europe

Theme: Law and Justice, US NATO War Agenda

In-depth Report: IRAQ REPORT




The UK Cameron government is blocking publication of their “official” report on Iraq war until perhaps 2014 or later, according to the UK’s most popular newspaper website.

Perhaps this delay is in part because the Blair government was advised before the war by all 27 attorneys in their Foreign Affairs Office that war on Iraq was unlawful.
That would mean armed attack on Iraq would be an unlawful War of
Aggression, with identical criminal implication on US armed attack on
Iraq.

Unlawful war requires US military to refuse all war orders and arrest those who issue them (more documentation here).

Public understanding that current wars “on terror” are not even close to lawful would end these wars. War law forbids all armed attack unless under attack by another nation’s government.

As I wrote in 2010:

All the lawyers in the UK’s Foreign
Affairs Department concluded the US/UK invasion of Iraq was an unlawful
War of Aggression. Their expert advice is the most qualified to make
that legal determination; all 27 of them were in agreement. This powerful judgment of unlawful war follows the Dutch government’s recent unanimous report and UN Secretary General Kofi Annan’s clear statements.

This stunning information was disclosed at the UK Chilcot inquiry by the testimony of Foreign Affairs leading legal advisor, Sir Michael Wood,
who added that the reply from Prime Minister Tony Blair’s office to his
legal department’s professional work was chastisement for putting their
unanimous legal opinion in writing.

Sir Michael testified
that Foreign Secretary Jack Straw preferred to take the legal position
that the laws governing war were vague and open to broad interpretation:
“He took the view that I was being very dogmatic and that international
law was pretty vague and that he wasn’t used to people taking such a
firm position.”

Mr. Straw’s opinion is an Orwellian lie of the crystal-clear letter and spirit of the UN Charter that outlawed wars of choice
in 1945. The UN Charter forbids all use of force except when explicitly
authorized by the UN Security Council, or in a narrow definition of
self-defense upon an armed attack by another nation’s government. This
is arguably the single most important and clear law on the planet, the
victory of the generation who sacrificed during World War 2, and damning
criminal testimony for anyone in government to claim that this law is
vague.

Violation of the laws to prevent war, a War of Aggression and a Crime
Against Peace, are also arguably to worst crime a nation can commit.

UK Attorney General Lord Goldsmith testified he ”changed his mind”
against the unanimous legal opinion of all 27 of the Foreign Office
attornies to agree with the US legal argument that UN Security Council
Resolution 1441 authorized use of force at the discretion of any nation’s choice. This
testimony is also criminally damning: arguing that an individual nation
has the right to choose war violates the purpose, letter and spirit of
the UN Charter, as well as violates 1441 that reaffirms jurisdiction of
the Security Council in governance of the issue. This Orwellian argument
contradicts the express purpose of the Charter to prevent individual
nations from engaging in wars. A two-minute video of his mincing
testimony is below as he pretends that war is still a lawful foreign
policy option.

Moreover, the US and UK “legal argument” is in further Orwellian
opposition to their UN Ambassadors’ statements when 1441 was passed that
this did not authorize any use of force:

John Negroponte, US Ambassador to the UN:

[T]his resolution contains no “hidden
triggers” and no “automaticity” with respect to the use of force. If
there is a further Iraqi breach, reported to the Council by UNMOVIC, the
IAEA or a Member State, the matter will return to the Council for
discussions as required in paragraph 12.

Sir Jeremy Greenstock, UK Ambassador to the UN:

We heard loud and clear during the
negotiations the concerns about “automaticity” and “hidden triggers” —
the concern that on a decision so crucial we should not rush into
military action; that on a decision so crucial any Iraqi violations
should be discussed by the Council. Let me be equally clear in response…
There is no “automaticity” in this resolution. If there is a further
Iraqi breach of its disarmament obligations, the matter will return to
the Council for discussion as required in paragraph 12.

The Chilcot inquiry was initiated from public outrage against UK
participation in the Iraq War, with public opinion having to engage a
second time to force hearings to become public
rather than closed and secret. The hearings were not authorized to
consider criminal charges, which is the next battle for UK public
opinion.

Concentrated US corporate media
will not report the Chilcot inquiry “emperor has no clothes” facts and
conclusion that the current US wars are unlawful. The US Senate Church
Committee revealed CIA infiltration of US corporate media to disinform the American public to support US political agendas.

The cost of these unlawful wars
is over a million Iraqi lives above those expected to have died in
pre-war conditions and $3-$5 TRILLION in long-term US taxpayer costs
(that’s $30,000 to $50,000 per average US household of $50,000 annual
income; do the math to figure your family’s share).

US Senate and House Committee investigation has shown through all
disclosed evidence that all of the justifications for war with Iraq were
known to be lies at the time they were presented
to the public. You are an irresponsible citizen if you do not verify
these easily-understood facts from the disclosed evidence. A colluding
corporate media for unlawful wars is a lame excuse for inaction when the
facts are in front of you now.



Source:-
http://www.globalresearch.ca/uk-chilcot-inquiry-the-iraq-war-was-an-unlawful-unanimous-legal-opinion-of-foreign-office-lawyers/5317696