In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

Article 51 prescribes the use of force in self-defense only when an attack against a country is imminent or certain. The mere possibility of a future attack from an enemy state using WMD does not constitute self-defense under Chapter 51. Furthermore, there was no authorization from the U.N. Security Council for the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. Thus, even if Iraq had possessed WMD in 2003, in the absence of a clear plan to use those weapons against the United States, the preemptive strike would still have violated international law (Ratner, 2002; Ritter, 2003). In addition to the unlawful invasion, the killing, torture, and inhumane treatment of Iraqi citizens and prisoners, and the wanton destruction of Iraqi property resulting from the occupation, constitute war crimes as defined by the four Geneva Conventions of 1949. As explained in chapter five, Article 147 of the fourth Geneva Convention of 1949 defines war crime as: Willful killing, torture or inhuman treatment, including . . . willfully causing great suffering or serious injury to body or health, unlawful deportation or transfer or unlawful confinement of a protected person, compelling a protected person to serve in the forces of a hostile power, or willfully depriving a protected person of the rights of fair and regular trial . . . taking of hostages and extensive destruction and appropriation of property, not justified by military necessity and carried out unlawfully and wantonly (Kafala, 2003, p. 2). According to legal experts, the above statement provides the basic definition of war crimes under international law (Feldman, 2002; Greider, 2003). Significantly, those nations that have ratified the Geneva Conventions, including the United States, are sworn to refrain from the above actions in all cases of declared war or in any other armed conflict between nations. Once the U.S.-led invasion forces became occupying powers in Iraq, they were obligated to abide by the Geneva Conventions. After major combat operations were declared over in Iraq, the U.N. Security Council passed Resolution 1483 which formally recognized that the United States and the United Kingdom occupied Iraq (Clark, 2006; Kramer et al., 2005). As occupiers , Resolution 1483 required them to “comply fully” with their obligations under the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and The Hague Regulations of 1907 which include the preservation of “public safety and order” (Greider, 2003). As explained by Kramer et al. (2005, p. 67), “Under the Fourth Geneva Convention, the occupying power [i.e., the United States and the United Kingdom] must ensure public safety and order, and guarantee the civilian population’s fundamental rights to food, health care, education, work, and freedom of movement.” Stated differently, the occupying power must respect the lives, well-being and property of civilians at all times. The failure to do so constitutes war crime. M a s s D e c e p t i o n 142 It has been argued that the U.S.-led occupying powers in Iraq did indeed fail to meet their obligations as set forth in the Geneva Conventions (Clark, 2006; Greider, 2003; Kramer et al., 2005). For example, it has been revealed that the United States did virtually nothing to stop either the looting or wonton destruction of Iraqi property and important architecture that followed the fall of Saddam Hussein’s political regime after the invasion (Clark, 2006). Perhaps the most grievous of the Bush administration’s violations of the Geneva Conventions, however, was manifested in the loss of human life and injury to Iraqi civilians. By mid-2008, according to London-based Opinion Research Business and its research partner in Iraq, the Independent Institute for Administration and Civil Society Studies, the Iraqi death toll exceeded one million, including several hundred thousand civilians, while countless other Iraqis had been maimed or injured due to the war and occupation (Opinion Research Business, 2008). Also, indiscriminate missile attacks and the widespread use of banned weapons such as cluster bombs and napalm-like Mark 77 firebombs by the U.S. military in the invasion resulted in the deaths of countless Iraqi civilians without any discernable military gains (Clark, 2006; Human Rights Watch, 2003; Ritter, 2006). The war crimes committed during the U.S. occupation of Iraq go further still. Numerous experts have charged that U.S. soldiers and private military contractors in the employment of the U.S. government attacked residential neighborhoods, invaded homes, arrested and detained civilians, and destroyed private property throughout the occupation of Iraq—all clear violations of...

Share