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Lawry, Below. Harry ******************************* of 818 352-4141 ******************************* > -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[mailto:futurework- > [EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Lawrence
deBivort > Sent: Tuesday, July 12, 2005 3:40 AM > To: [email protected] > Subject: RE: [Futurework] War Criminals posing as
World > Leaders &Bob Geldof'sMusical Apartheid > > Harry, you ask if I understand you correctly, for a
list of > US/"Coalition" > war crimes in > top of my head. Please keep in mind that war
crimes can be committed, > but that the legal mechanisms for pursuing those
responsible have then to >confirm the commission of the crimes. Lawry, I didn’t really ask for a list of such crimes –
I concentrated on one of the unsupported certainties that masquerades as truth.
That is, the idea that Saddam was our “client” during the Iraq-Iran
war. Certainly we were friendly enough to send him food and airliners. But he
was fighting (about) “If Satan himself were to declare himself to be against
Hitler, I would at least make a favorable mention of him in the Commons.” Strangely, the Iranians fought the war with F-14’s and
F-15’s and other American planes, not to mention the infamous TOW
missiles. The Iranian American planes did very well against Saddam’s
large Air Force of Russian planes. However, thanks for the list. More comments below. > > >
Crimes pertaining to the Law of War (Belligerence) > > 1.
Failure to provide a declaration of war with legitimate casus belli > 2.
War was "aggressive", and not "defensive" > 3.
Good faith negotiations were rejected prior to commencement of > war > 4.
War targeted heads of state > 5.
War used force disproportional to purported casus belli > 6.
War turned into occupation > 7.
Civilian population was targeted > 8.
Countries have been blockaded and their trade and freedom of access have >
been interfered with in the absence of a Declaration of War, or the >
commencement of hostilities The UN promised Saddam “serious
consequences” if he didn’t comply. Saddam simply laughed at them
– until a couple of hundred thousand troops surrounded him, whereupon he
became very conciliatory. I don’t think that “good faith” was
evident. None of us know whether there were WMD in You may remember that we stumbled across a
cache of 5,000 chemical protective suits. Were these a holdover from previous
times, or something missed when they were fleeing with the evidence? I think
the first – but maybe it was the second. Nothing is as certain as both
right and left assert it is. It turns out that the It has become an anti-Bush ploy. We couldn’t get the UN to support
their own resolve of “serious consequences” for Saddam. We now know
that important people in So, what to do about Saddam? Using 20/20 hindsight the following scenario
isn’t unlikely. Bribery at the UN and in several other
countries might soon have stopped the sanctions. As it is that seemed close.
Perhaps, the other three pipelines would have then started operating at full
spate. Their fairly poor condition (except for the “illegal” one
through Saddam would have allowed his UN friends
– the Russians - to exploit the northern fields in return for tanks,
guns, and aircraft. The French no doubt would throw in some more Mirage
fighters, and plenty of sophisticated electronics (they did it before). Saddam would have re-built his army. (His
sons might kill him and take over). Perhaps the All that would be left would be for Saddam
to be elected to the Human Rights Chair at the UN. Maybe we should take out Saddam before any
of this happens. (I have previously set out the invasion as an alternative
strategy to try positively to settle the However, history is against Bush. As
I’ve said, if he fails, or is seen to fail, he’ll be everything
that’s been hurled against him. If he pulls it off – he’ll be
a visionary. >
Crimes pertaining to the Geneva Accords > > 9.
Occupation has harmed (killing, maiming, displacement) the >
civilian population > 10.
Occupation has harmed the economic structure > 11.
Occupation has impeded the social, cultural lives of the civilian >
population > 12.
Civilians have been subject to warrant-less detention, and have > not
been afforded proper hearings > 13.
Military and civilians have been subject to torture, humiliation > and
inhumane conditions > 14.
Military and civilian prisoners were denied visits by the >
International Red Cross. > 15.
Military and civilian prisoners were denied contact with families > and
representatives > 16.
Military and civilian prisoners were denied visits and >
representation by their governments of citizenship I would attribute much of this to the type
of fighting that has erupted. When an enemy fights from amid the civilian
population, either you get killed, or you fire back and inevitably kill
civilians. When the terrorists put the fear of death into civilians, a
technique to make them talk is to instill them with greater fear – which
can be done without the extremes we have encountered. The IBC counted 7,350 civilian deaths during
the active war – another 15,437 since then (or when they are confirmed,
as many as 18,464. The IBC blames these on the >
Crimes pertaining to the Law of the Sea > > 17.
Shipping of non-belligerent countries have been forcibly >
stopped and searched, and some turned away from their courses. > 18.
Crew have been removed from their ships > 19.
Non-belligerent vessels have been attacked and sunk Know nothing about this. Did this happen in
the Gulf? Anyway, thanks for the list. >
Well, as I say, this is all from memory and what comes to mind >
right off. >
>From several of these general charges, multiple related legal >
charges would be distinguished, as, for example, the Geneva Convention spells >
things out in considerable detail with multiple laws. > > The
law can be found in any law textbook on international law at > any
university law library or law firm, or on the web (probably), and > the
Geneva Conventions can be found on the UN website. >
Cheers, >
Lawry |
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