"Recommend that people throughout the world launch actions against US & UK

[understandinglife]

.... corporations that directly profit from this war," Arundhati Roy, .... told a news conference at the end of the meeting.

She said actions could include shutting down offices, consumer boycotts and pressure on shareholders to divest.

The group identified a series of companies including U.S. oil services company Halliburton, engineering firm Bechtel and defense contractor CACI International as being among those who benefited from the war.

<clip>

The tribunal also charged the U.N. Security Council with failing to stop war crimes and crimes against humanity and accused major media organizations of "disseminating deliberate falsehoods and failing to report atrocities."

Link:
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=8901723

We should all be grateful to the tireless efforts of all involved in the World Tribunal on Iraq and especially:

Professor of International Law at Santa Barbara University. UNESCO peace prize holder. Prof. Falk has published over 30 books on international law and human rights, the most recent one entitled Declining World Order.


Renowned author and activist Arundhati Roy received the Booker Prize for literature in 1997. Presently, one of the most eloquent voices for the global justice and anti-war movement, she was also awarded, among many others, the Sydney Peace Prize in 2004, and the Lannan Cultural Freedom Prize in 2002.

These words of Dr Wamid Omar Nadhmi, as reported by Dahr Jamail, provide a concise summary of the challenge the world faces.

Dr. Wamid Omar Nadhmi, a senior political scientist at Baghdad University who was invited to this tribunal, told me last winter, “It will take Iraqis something like a quarter of a century to rebuild their country, to heal their wounds, to reform their society, to bring about some sort of national reconciliation, democracy and tolerance of each other. But that process will not begin until the US occupation of Iraq ends.”

And it is now exceedingly clear that the only way the Bush Administration will withdraw the US military from Iraq in order for Iraqis to have true sovereignty is if they are forced to do so.

Posted by Dahr_Jamail at June 25, 2005 07:37 PM from the

http://www.dahrjamailiraq.com/hard_news/archives/newscommentary/000257.php#more

On July 23 2005 we can extend the courageous efforts of Congressman Conyers and those elected representatives who have cooperated with him. Specifically, we can all contribute to AfterDowningStreet.org call for a nation-wide endeavor to further expose the meaning of the "Downing Street" documents.

Downing Street Minutes 3rd Anniversary Events:
The Smoking Gun that Proves Bush Lied About Iraq
http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/?q=node/526

And, let us spread this image to as many as possible:

Members of Congress, from left to right, Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas), John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.), and Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) head down Pennsylvania Avenue to the White House, June 16, to deliver petitions demanding President Bush tell the truth on Downing Street Memo evidence that he lied to sell the Iraq war to the American people. http://www.pww.org/article/articleview/7266/1/275/

"... we sent our young people into harm's way without leveling with the American people." - Congresswoman Pelosi before Congress, 16 June 2005

Peace.

www.missionnotaccomplished.us - Any candidate worthy of our vote in the 2006 Congressional elections should have filed charges against Bu$h and the neoconsters before March 19 2006.

[getmeouttahere]

1. Of course we should be boycotting!

it's the only power we have left!

Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas), John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.), and Barbara Lee (D-Calif.)

There are some faces for a new monument! Patriots all!

[Time for change]

2. I think I should read one of Roy's books

Is there any particular one that you would recommend?

[understandinglife]

3. "What needs to be done is to extend a commitment to the sacredness of life

... to the entire human family, in effect, joining in a collective effort to achieve what might be called 'humane globalization.'

<clip>

We are poised on the brink of a global inter-civilizational war without battlefields and borders, a war seemingly declared against the enigmatic and elusive solitary figure of Osama bin Laden stalking remote mountainous Afghanistan while masterminding a holy war against a mighty superpower. To the extent that this portrayal is accurate it underscores the collapse of world order based on the relations among sovereign, territorial states. But it also suggests that the idea of national security in a world of states is obsolete, and that the only viable security is what is being called these days "human security." Yet, the news has not reached Washington, or for that matter, the other capitals of the world. There is still present the conviction that missile defense shields, space weaponry, and anti-terrorist grand coalitions can keep the barbarians at bay. In fact, this conviction has turned into a frenzy in the aftermath of the 11th, giving us reason to fear the response almost as much as the initial, traumatizing provocations. As the sun sets on a world of states, the sun of its militarism appears ready to burn more brightly than ever!

-- Fearing the Aftermath
by Richard A Falk, September 2001
http://www.wagingpeace.org/articles/2001/09/00_falk_fearing.htm

I'd begin by reading the above essay as it is a remarkable statement of insight by Prof Falk immediately after 9/11.

His recent book, The Declining World Order: America's Imperial Geopolitics is an important compilation of details and analysis.

Peace.

www.missionnotaccomplished.us

[understandinglife]

5. "Globalizing Dissent: Converations with Arundhati Roy"

Is a fascinating collection of interviews with her assembled in this book by David Barsamian.

And, The God of Small Things, for which she was awarded the Booker Prize in 1997, is a must read.

Peace.

www.missionnotaccomplished.us

[Time for change]

23. Thank you UL. I'll have to get them. n/t

[bunny planet]

13. Her novel, and I believe it's her only novel is called

'The God of Small Things'. It is IMHO one of the most beautiful and profound books ever written.

Get the impression I liked it?;-)

I believe all of her other books are non-fiction and have to do with her political philosophy and efforts towards peace.

[Time for change]

24. Thank you bunny planet. UL recommended the same book.

I'll have to get it.

[Just Me]

4. I fully support the effort and will pass this page on to my constituents.

We have to do this together. :hug:

[BamaBecky]

12. Absolutely! We must all **DO SOMETHING**! **EVERYBODY**!

Click here to see How I feel about it!

[glitch]

6. Absolutely - it's way past time for boycotts and sanctions.

More effective than protests and marches, IMO. We need to cut off any revenue stream we have access to. Unfortunately they are expert at feeding at the government trough -- so we need punish the politicians who allow that as well.

[freedomburn]

7. Arundhati Roy speaks the truth with poise and eloquence.

She tells the truth like MLK or Ghandi or a modern prophet. Listen to her. Hear the truth of her words. This is a great idea and it will work! We did it to South Africa and helped get Nelson Mandela released from prison and elected President. I participated in those sit-ins at Cal and UCSC and we got the regents to divest and it worked, ok??! And Nelson Mandela came to speak and personally thanked us for our efforts. It will work here too, and it is time to do this. I will spread the word and help to organize.

[understandinglife]

8. Excactly. Get State, labor and education funds to divest in companies ...

... like Halliburton, Raytheon, General Dynamics ....

Welcome to DU and thank you!


Peace.


www.missionnotaccomplished.us

[Geoff R. Casavant]

9. I know I'm new here, but . . .

People, can we please edit our subject lines to be less misleading? Looking at the subject line of this post, without reading the actual message itself, seems to advocate some kind of armed attack against the US and UK. Keep in mind that conservatives troll these forums as well, just looking for ammunition. Do you really expect Coulter or Limbaugh to read the fine print when they can simply do a screen capture of an infammatory headline?

Just my two cents.

[understandinglife]

10. The subject line means exactly what it states. No apologies.

Welcome to DU.

Peace.

www.missionnotaccomplished.us - One question, my fellow Americans, "Why is Bu$h and his fellow war criminals not already in jail?"

[Geoff R. Casavant]

11. Glad to be here.

Peace as well.

[newyawker99]

28. Hi Geoff R. Casavant!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[understandinglife]

14. June 29th 2005: Protest to Target Washington Post on their DSM failures

Protest to Target Washington Post Under-Reporting of Downing Street Papers

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
JUNE 27, 2005

WHAT: PICKET LINE AND DEMONSTRATION
WHEN: 5:00 PM, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 29
WHERE: 1150 15TH ST., NW, WASHINGTON, DC

Members of a growing list of organizations concerned about the continued failure by the Washington Post, in particular, and much of the mainstream media, in general, to adequately cover the eight "Downing Street Papers", will conduct a peaceful protest in front of the Washington, D. C. offices of the Washington Post from 5:00 PM to 6:00 PM on Wednesday, June 29.

The demonstration has already been endorsed by the Progressive Democrats of America, Code Pink, AfterDowningStreet.org, Democrats.com, Northern Virginians United for Peace and Justice, with more groups signing on every day. Members of the DC Anti-War Network (DAWN), Gold Star Families for Peace, and other organizations will also participate in the demonstration.

The eight documents in question are the private briefing papers, letters and minutes of meetings of the top-level of the British Government, including Prime Minister Tony Blair and Britain’s foreign secretary, head of intelligence and ambassador to the U.S., among others, in March, 2002, and July, 2002. Their authenticity is not in question—the British Foreign Office has confirmed they are all genuine. Their reliability is also not in question, as they are the private beliefs and statements of the named individuals at the highest level of America’s closest ally.

The story they reveal is shocking, far from the “old news” that the Post and some other media have tried to portray them as. Collectively, they reveal that by no later than March, 2002, the Bush Administration had without any question decided to effect “regime change” in Iraq by military means, that Tony Blair had signed on to support that invasion, and that all the reasons later given—weapons of mass destruction, ties to Al Qaeda, and violation of UN resolutions—were known in March of 2002 not to constitute a valid or legal basis for war. The documents reveal a secret agreement between the Blair and Bush administrations to concoct a pretext that would make an invasion already decided on for other reasons, appear legal and justifiable. The pretext decided on was to force such intrusive inspections on Saddam Hussein that he wouldn’t comply, basically entrapping him into providing a pretext for an already planned invasion.

If true, these actions are impeachable offenses of the Bush Administration, and a gross violation of the Constitution. The groups and individuals supporting this demonstration demand that the Washington Post, as the flagship newspaper of our nation’s capital, cease its belittling, under- and mis-reporting of these documents, publish all eight documents in full, and pursue this story with at least the same vigor and attention span of the original “Watergate” story, and that it cover, in full, the growing Congressional and Senate demands that the information in these documents be fully investigated, and the efforts in Congress to introduce and pass a Resolution of Inquiry to conduct that investigation.
###
http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/?q=node/536

Peace.

www.missionnotaccomplished.us

[gordianot]

15. A couple questions?

Who is "World Tribunal on Iraq"?

What is their authority?

Make no mistake I am for leaving Iraq now, but I think there needs to be some questions asked. Also as listed in this post I do not remember Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas), John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.), and Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) asking for a boycott.

[understandinglife]

16. Answers.

Direct link to information on the history and the recent three day meeting of the World Tribunal on Iraq:

http://www.worldtribunal.org/main

They make zero claims to authority.

I am not aware that any of the four Congresspersons you mention have asked for a boycott. The message in the post was to encourage folk to spread the historical image and historical message associated with it.

Thank you for your questions.

Peace.

www.missionnotaccomplished.us - A question for all my fellow Americans - "Why is Bush not already in jail?"

[Just Me]

18. Go here for a list of the endorsers.

---> http://www.worldtribunal.org/main/?b=12

The members of Congress you listed are involved advocating an investigation of the revelations contained in the DSM.

Edited to clarify.

[endarkenment]

25. All the authorities

are actively participating in the crimes. Only the unauthorized are taking steps to end the madness.

[understandinglife]

26. WOW! I wish I had written that sentence. Most excellent and true.

Taty Almeida is a member of the "Jury of Conscience" of the World Tribunal on Iraq now taking place in Istanbul, Turkey. Ms. Almeida represents Madres de la Plaza de Mayo, a group of mothers whose children were kidnapped and mostly killed during the "Dirty War" (1976-83) in Argentina. (Photo: Under The Same Sun.org)

Members of Congress, from left to right, Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas), John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.), and Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) head down Pennsylvania Avenue to the White House, June 16, to deliver petitions demanding President Bush tell the truth on Downing Street Memo evidence that he lied to sell the Iraq war to the American people.

http://www.pww.org/article/articleview/7266/1/275

Peace.

www.missionnotaccomplished.us - Any candidate worthy of our vote in the 2006 Congressional elections should have filed charges against Bu$h and the neoconsters before March 19 2006.

[gordianot]

30. That's the truth. Great line!

[justinsb]

17. I've been boycotting US and UK products since

last November. I have slipped a few times, largely because of companies owned by other companies owned by huge conglomorates but on the whole, probably less than $100 of my money has gone to any US or UK companies since the last election.

[Jack Rabbit]

19. Plans for this should have been in place a long time ago

With all respect to those who organized and participated in the WTI, but it was street theater.

Roy also said there should be an "exhaustive" investigation of those responsible for crimes of aggression and crimes against humanity in Iraq, beginning with President Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

Ms. Roy is quite of this. We need to institute a real international tribunal that can really sentence war criminals like Bush and Blair to life in prison.

Grass roots economic sanctions will help put the pressure on the war profiteers to stop stealing from the Iraqi people and to withdraw their support of the political careers of wannabe Caesars.

[understandinglife]

20. Raw Story posts more evidence of "The unofficial war"!

The unofficial war: U.S., Britain led massive secret bombing campaign before Iraq war was declared

Larisa Alexandrova and John Byrne

June 27, 2005

A U.S. general who commanded the U.S. allied air forces in Iraq has confirmed that the U.S. and Britain conducted a massive secret bombing campaign before the U.S. actually declared war on Iraq.

The quote, passed from RAW STORY to the London Sunday Times last week, raises troubling questions of whether President Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair engaged in an illegal war before seeking a UN resolution or congressional approval.

More at link:
http://rawstory.com/news/2005/The_unofficial_war_U.S._and_Britain_led_massive_air_campaign_before_Iraq_war_be_0627.html

Keeping the DSM on the front burner: Downing Street Minutes to Hit House Floor
http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/?q=node/540

Let us all honor this amazing historical act by spreading the image and the message.

Members of Congress, from left to right, Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas), John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.), and Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) head down Pennsylvania Avenue to the White House, June 16, to deliver petitions demanding President Bush tell the truth on Downing Street Memo evidence that he lied to sell the Iraq war to the American people.

http://www.pww.org/article/articleview/7266/1/275

Peace.

www.missionnotaccomplished.us - Any candidate worthy of our vote in the 2006 Congressional elections should have filed charges against Bu$h and the neoconsters before March 19 2006.

[understandinglife]

21. DowningStreetMemo.com interview with Michael Smith: June 27 2005

Interview with Michael Smith

June 27, 2005

Michael Smith is the UK reporter many are likening to Woodward and Bernstein for his work in uncovering the Downing Street Memo and other leaked UK government documents. DowningStreetMemo.com recently interviewed Smith via email to ask him about how he came into those documents, what they mean, and what he would ask George W. Bush if he had the chance.

Link to the interview:
http://downingstreetmemo.com/blog.html

One question pertinent to what Raw Story has just released is reprinted here:

Q: As you have pointed out in your articles, the RAF and US bombing of Iraq started in the May 2002, with a large escalation of activity after the July meeting described in the DSM. Specifically, you wrote "By the end of August the raids had become “a full air offensive.” Do you believe that this intense bombing had anything to do with the fact that Saddam Hussein offered to hold internationally-monitored elections and full weapons inspections by the UN and US troops in the weeks before the "formal" launch of the war? See story here.

A. No. The missions were planned to destroy as much of Iraq's defences as possible beforehand. Nothing Saddam did had any effect on them. They were going to happen anyway. Lt-Gen T Michael Moseley's briefing to allied officers at Nellis air base, Nebraska, on 17 July 2003 (as reported in today's Sunday Times) made it very clear that this was the air war.

Peace.

www.missionnotaccomplished.us

[Twist_U_Up]

22. HIT EM WHERE IT HURTS

Then the pigs and even some Dems might get the friggin picture.

What Corporate Media!! HAA any business that spends money to air commercials...... Bam boycott and mass mail.

It would get confusing for alot of folks if we just started saying well Pepsi, Nike, Doritos all get boycot.

I think if we single out one and shut them down for a span the others might head warning

[understandinglife]

27. WTI: "The attack on Iraq is an attack on justice, on liberty, ...

... on our safety, on our future, on us all’ – The Jury of Conscience

http://www.worldtribunal.org/main/?b=93

Istanbul, 27 June, 2005 - With a Jury of Conscience from 10 different countries hearing the testimonies of 54 members of the Panel of Advocates who came from across the world, including Iraq, the United States and the United Kingdom, this global civil initiative came to an end with a press conference at the Hotel Armada where the chair of the Jury of Conscience, Arundathi Roy, announced the Jury’s conclusions.

The Jury defined this war as one of the most unjust in history: ‘The Bush and Blair administrations blatantly ignored the massive opposition to the war expressed by millions of people around the world. They embarked upon one of the most unjust, immoral, and cowardly wars in history. The Anglo-American occupation of Iraq of the last 27 months has led to the destruction and devastation of the Iraqi state and society. Law and order have broken down completely, resulting in a pervasive lack of human security; the physical infrastructure is in shambles; the health care delivery system is a mess; the education system has ceased to function; there is massive environmental and ecological devastation; and, the cultural and archeological heritage of the Iraqi people has been desecrated.’

On the basis of the preceding findings and recalling the Charter of the United Nations and other legal documents, the jury has established the following charges against the Governments of the US and the UK:

• Planning, preparing, and waging the supreme crime of a war of aggression in contravention of the United Nations Charter and the Nuremberg Principles.

• Targeting the civilian population of Iraq and civilian infrastructure

• Using disproportionate force and indiscriminate weapon systems

• Failing to safeguard the lives of civilians during military activities and during the occupation period thereafter

• Using deadly violence against peaceful protestors

• Imposing punishments without charge or trial, including collective punishment

• Subjecting Iraqi soldiers and civilians to torture and cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment

• Re-writing the laws of a country that has been illegally invaded and occupied

• Willfully devastating the environment

• Actively creating conditions under which the status of Iraqi women has seriously been degraded

• Failing to protect humanity’s rich archaeological and cultural heritage in Iraq

• Obstructing the right to information, including the censoring of Iraqi media

• Redefining torture in violation of international law, to allow use of torture and illegal detentions

The Jury also established charges against the Security Council of United Nations for failing to stop war crimes and crimes against humanity among other failures, against the Governments of the Coalition of the Willing for collaborating in the invasion and occupation of Iraq, against the Governments of Other Countries for allowing the use of military bases and air space and providing other logistical support, against Private Corporations for profiting from the war, against the Major Corporate Media for disseminating deliberate falsehoods and failing to report atrocities.

The Jury also provided a number of recommendations that include recognising the right of the Iraqi people to resist the illegal occupation of their country and to develop independent institutions, and affirming that the right to resist the occupation is the right to wage a struggle for self-determination, freedom, and independence as derived from the Charter of the United Nations, we the Jury of Conscience declare our solidarity with the people of Iraq and the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of the coalition forces from Iraq.

The Istanbul session of the WTI lasted three days and presented testimony on the illegality and criminal violations in the U.S. pretexts for and conduct of this war. The expert opinion, witness testimony, video and image evidence addressed the impact of war on civilians, the torture of prisoners, the unlawful imprisonment of Iraqis without charges or legal defence, the use of depleted uranium weapons, the effects of the war on Iraq’s infrastructure, the destruction of Iraqi cultural institutions and the liability of the invaders in international law for failing to protect these treasures of humanity.

The session in Istanbul was the culminating session of commissions of inquiry and hearings held around the world over the past two years. Sessions on different topics related to the war on Iraq were held in London, Mumbai, Copenhagen, Brussels, New York, Japan, Stockholm, South Korea, Rome, Frankfurt, Geneva, Lisbon and Spain.

They have compiled a definitive historical record of evidence on the illegality of the invasion and occupation that will be recorded in a forthcoming book.

Contact:
Tolga Temuge,
International Media Coordinator
tolga.temuge (at) worldtribunal.org

I have already sent an email to Congressman Conyers urging him, if his outstanding staff haven't already done so, to acquire a copy of all the documentation gathered by the WTI.

It's indictment and prosecution time.

Please do the same and contact your representatives, as well, and even if they are Republican.


Peace.

www.missionnotaccomplished.us - Any candidate worthy of our vote in the 2006 Congressional elections should have filed charges against Bu$h and the neoconsters before March 19 2006.

[understandinglife]

29. PRELIMINARY DECLARATION OF THE JURY OF CONSCIENCE WORLD TRIBUNAL ON IRAQ

PRELIMINARY DECLARATION OF THE JURY OF CONSCIENCE WORLD TRIBUNAL ON IRAQ

June 27, 2005

Download a .rtf copy of the document, here:
http://www.worldtribunal.org/main/docs/jurystatement.rtf

In February 2003, weeks before war was declared on Iraq, millions of people protested in the streets of the world. That call went unheeded. No international institution had the courage or conscience to stand up to the aggression of the US and UK governments. No one could stop them.

It is two years later now. Iraq has been invaded, occupied, and devastated. The attack on Iraq is an attack on justice, on liberty, on our safety, on our future, on us all. We the people of conscience decided to stand up. We formed the World Tribunal on Iraq, to demand justice and a peaceful future.

The legitimacy of the World Tribunal on Iraq is located in the collective conscience of humanity. This, the Istanbul session, was the culmination of a series of 20 hearings held in different cities of the world focusing on the illegal invasion and occupation of Iraq.

We the Jury of Conscience, from 10 different countries, met in Istanbul. We heard 54 testimonies from a panel of advocates and witnesses who came from across the world, including from Iraq, the United States and the United Kingdom.

The World Tribunal on Iraq met in Istanbul from 24-26th of June 2005. The principal objective of the WTI is to tell the truth about the Iraq war as clearly as possible, and to draw conclusions that underscore the accountability of those responsible and underline the significance of justice for the Iraqi people. Saddam Hussein’s crimes against his people are not the focus of this Tribunal. We believe it is up to the Iraqi people to investigate these crimes in an independent and free trial.

I. Overview

1. The reasons given by the US and UK governments for the illegal invasion and occupation of Iraq in March 2003 have proven to be false. The real motive was to control and dominate the Middle East. Establishing hegemony over the Middle East serves the goal of controlling the world’s largest reserves of oil and strengthening the position of the US’s strategic ally Israel.

2. Blatant falsehoods about the presence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and a link between Al Qaeda terrorism and the Saddam Hussein régime were manufactured in order to create public support for a “preemptive” assault upon a sovereign independent nation.

3. Iraq has been under siege for years. The imposition of severe inhuman economic sanctions at the end of the first Gulf war in 1991; the establishment of no-fly zones in the Northern and Southern parts of Iraq; and the concomitant bombing of the country were all aimed at degrading and weakening Iraq’s human and material resources and capacities in order to facilitate its subsequent invasion and occupation. In this enterprise the US and British leaderships had the endorsement of a complicit UN Security Council.

4. In pursuit of their agenda of empire, the Bush and Blair blatantly ignored the massive opposition to the war expressed by millions of people around the world. They embarked upon one of the most unjust, immoral, and cowardly wars in history.

5. The Anglo-American occupation of Iraq of the last 27 months has led to the destruction and devastation of the Iraqi state and society. Law and order have broken down completely, resulting in a pervasive lack of human security; the physical infrastructure is in shambles; the health care delivery system is a mess; the education system has ceased to function; there is massive environmental and ecological devastation; and, the cultural and archeological heritage of the Iraqi people has been desecrated.

6. The occupation has intentionally exacerbated ethnic and confessionnal divisions in Iraqi society, with the aim of undermining Iraq’s identity and integrity as a nation. This is in keeping with the fam liar imperial policy of divide and rule.

7. The imposition of the UN sanctions in 1991 caused untold suffering and thousands of deaths. The situation has worsened after the occupation. At least 100,000 civilians have been killed; 60,000 are being held in US custody in inhuman conditions, without charges; thousands have disappeared; and torture has become virtually routine.

8. The privatization, deregulation, and liberalization of the Iraqi economy has transformed the country into a client economy that serves the Washington Consensus. The occupying forces have also accomplished their primary goal of acquired control over the nation’s oil.

9. Any law or institution created under the aegis of occupation is devoid of both legal and moral authority. The recently concluded election, the Constituent Assembly, the current government, and the drafting committee for the Constitution are therefore all illegitimate.

10. There is widespread opposition to the occupation. Political, social, and civil resistance through peaceful means is subjected to repression by the occupying forces. It is the brutality of the occupation that has provoked a strong armed resistance and certain acts of desperation. By the principles embodied in the UN Charter and in international law, the popular national resistance to the occupation is legitimate and justified. It deserves the support of people everywhere who care for justice and freedom.

II. Findings and Charges

On the basis of the preceding findings and recalling the Charter of the United Nations and other legal documents quoted in the appendix, the jury has established the following charges.
A. Against the Governments of the US and the UK

1. Planning, preparing, and waging the supreme crime of a war of aggression in contravention of the United Nations Charter and the Nuremberg Principles.

Evidence for this can be found in the leaked Downing Street Memo of 23rd July, 2002 in which it was revealed that: “military action was now seen as inevitable. Bush wanted to remove Saddam through military action, justified by the conjunction of terrorism and WMD. But the intelligence and facts were fixed around the policy.” Intelligence was manufactured to willfully deceive the people of the US, the UK, and their elected representatives.

2. Targeting the civilian population of Iraq and civilian infrastructure, by intentionally directing attacks upon civilians and hospitals, medical centers, residential neighborhoods, electricity stations, and water purification facilities in violation of the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and the International Covenant for Civil and Political Rights (“ICCPR”), Articles 7(1)(a), 8(2)(a)(i), and 8(2)(b)(i). The complete destruction of the city of Falluja in itself constitutes a glaring example of such crimes.

3. Using disproportionate force and indiscriminate weapon systems, such as cluster munitions, incendiary bombs, depleted uranium (DU), and chemical weapons. Detailed evidence was presented to the Tribunal by expert witnesses that leukemia had risen sharply in children under the age of five residing in those areas which had been targeted by DU weapons.

4. Failing to safeguard the lives of civilians during military activities and during the occupation period thereafter, in violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention, Articles 13 and 27, and the ICC Statute, Articles 7 (1)(a) and 8(2)(a)(i). This is evidenced, for example, by “shock and awe” bombing techniques and the conduct of occupying forces at checkpoints.

5. Using deadly violence against peaceful protestors, beginning with, among others, the April 2003 killing of more than a dozen peaceful protestors in Falluja.

6. Imposing punishments without charge or trial, including collective punishment, on the people of Iraq, in violation of the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), Geneva Conventions, and customary international law requiring due process. Repeated testimonies pointed to “snatch and grab” operations, disappearances, and assassinations.

7. Subjecting Iraqi soldiers and civilians to torture and cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment in violation of the Geneva Conventions, the ICCPR, other treaties and covenants, and customary international law. Degrading treatment includes subjecting Iraqi soldiers and civilians to acts of racial, ethnic, religious, and gender discrimination, as well as denying Iraqi soldiers Prisoner of War status as required by the Geneva Convention. Abundant testimony was provided of unlawful arrests and detentions, without due process of law. Well known and egregious examples occurred in Abu Ghraib prison as well as in Mosul, Camp Bucca, and Basra. The employment of mercenaries and private contractors to carry out torture has served to undermine accountability.

8. Re-writing the laws of a country that has been illegally invaded and occupied, in violation of international covenants on the responsibilities of occupying powers, in order to amass illegal profits (through such measures as Order 39, signed by L. Paul Bremer III for the Coalition Provisional Authority, which allows foreign investors to buy and takeover Iraq’s state-owned enterprises and to repatriate 100 percent of their profits and assets at any point) and to control Iraq’s oil. Evidence listed a number of corporations that had profited from such transactions.

9. Willfully devastating the environment, contaminating it by depleted uranium (DU) weapons, combined with the plumes from burning oil wells, as well as huge oil spills, and destroying agricultural lands. Deliberately disrupting the water and waste removal systems, in a manner verging on biological-chemical warfare. Failing to prevent the looting and dispersal of radioactive material from nuclear sites. Extensive documentation is available on air, water pollution, land degradation, and radiological pollution.

10. Actively creating conditions under which the status of Iraqi women has seriously been degraded contrary, to the repeated claims of the leaders of the coalition forces. Women’s freedom of movement has been severely limited, restricting their access to education, livelihood, and social engagement. Testimony was provided that sexual violence and sex trafficking have increased since the occupation of Iraq began.

11. Failing to protect humanity’s rich archaeological and cultural heritage in Iraq, by allowing the looting of museums and established historical sites and positioning military bases in culturally and archeologically sensitive locations. This took place despite prior warnings from UNESCO and Iraqi museum officials.

12. Obstructing the right to information, including the censoring of Iraqi media, such as newspapers (e.g., al-Hawza, al-Mashriq, and al-Mustaqila) and radio stations (Baghdad Radio), targeting international journalists, imprisoning and killing academics, intellectuals and scientists.

13. Redefining torture in violation of international law, to allow use of torture and illegal detentions, including holding more than 500 people at Guantánamo Bay without charging them or allowing them any access to legal protection, and using “extraordinary renditions” to send people to torture in other countries known to commit human rights abuses and torture prisoners.

B. Against the Security Council of United Nations

1. Failing to protect Iraq against a crime of aggression.

2. Imposing harsh economic sanctions on Iraq, despite knowledge that sanctions were directly contributing to the massive loss of civilian lives and harming innocent civilians.

3. Allowing the United States and United Kingdom to carry out illegal bombings in the no-fly zones, using false pretense of enforcing UN resolutions, and at no point allowing discussion in the Security Council of this violation, and thereby being complicit and responsible for loss of civilian life and destruction of Iraqi infrastructure.

4. Allowing the United States to dominate the United Nations and hold itself above any accountability by other member nations.

5. Failure to stop war crimes and crimes against humanity by the United States and its coalition partners in Iraq.

6. Failure to hold the United States and its coalition partners accountable for violations of international law during the occupation, and giving official recognition to the occupation, thereby legitimizing an illegal invasion and becoming a collaborator in an illegal occupation.

C. Against the Governments of the Coalition of the Willing
Collaborating in the invasion and occupation of Iraq.

D. Against the Governments of Other Countries
Allowing the use of military bases and air space, and providing other logistical support, for the invasion and occupation.

E. Against Private Corporations
Profiting from the war with complicity in the crimes described above, of invasion and occupation.

F. Against the Major Corporate Media

1. Disseminating the deliberate falsehoods spread by the governments of the US and the UK and failing to adequately investigate this misinformation. This even in the face of abundant evidence to the contrary. Among the corporate media houses that bear special responsibility for promoting the lies about Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction, we name the New York Times, in particular their reporter Judith Miller, whose main source was on the payroll of the CIA. We also name Fox News, CNN and the BBC.

2. Failing to report the atrocities being committed against Iraqi people by the occupying forces.

III. Recommendations

Recognising the right of the Iraqi people to resist the illegal occupation of their country and to develop independent institutions, and affirming that the right to resist the occupation is the right to wage a struggle for self-determination, freedom, and independence as derived from the Charter of the United Nations, we the Jury of Conscience declare our solidarity with the people of Iraq.

We recommend:

1. The immediate and unconditional withdrawal of the coalition forces from Iraq;

2. That coalition governments make war reparations and pay compensation to Iraq for the humanitarian, economic, ecological, and cultural devastation they have caused by their illegal invasion and occupation;

3. That all laws, contracts, treaties, and institutions established under occupation which the Iraqi people deem inimical to their interests, should be considered null and void;

4. That the Guantanamo Bay prison and all other offshore US military prisons be closed immediately; that the names of the prisoners be disclosed, that they receive POW status, and receive due process;

5. That there be an exhaustive investigation of those responsible for crimes of aggression and crimes against humanity in Iraq, beginning with George W. Bush, President of the United States of America; Tony Blair, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom; and other government officials from the coalition of the willing;

6. That we initiate a process of accountability to hold those morally and personally responsible for their participation in this illegal war, such as journalists who deliberately lied, corporate media outlets that promoted racial, ethnic and religious hatred, and CEOs of multinational corporations that profited from this war;

7. That people throughout the world launch actions against US and UK corporations that directly profit from this war. Examples of such corporations include Halliburton, Bechtel, Carlyle, CACI Inc., Titan Corporation, Kellog, Brown and Root (subsidiary of Halliburton), DynCorp, Boeing, ExxonMobil, Texaco, British Petroleum. The following companies have sued Iraq and received “reparation awards”: Toys R Us, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Shell, Nestlé, Pepsi, Phillip Morris, Sheraton, Mobil. Such actions may take the form of direct actions such as shutting down their offices, consumer boycotts, and pressure on shareholders to divest.

8. That soldiers exercise conscience and refuse to enlist and participate in an illegal war. Also that countries provide conscientious objectors political asylum.

9. That the international campaign for dismantling all US military bases abroad be reinforced.

10. That people around the world resist and reject any effort by any of their governments to provide material, logistical, or moral support to the occupation of Iraq.

We, the Jury of Conscience, hope that the specificity of these recommendations will lay the groundwork required for a world where the international institutions will be shaped and reshaped by the will of people and not fear and self-interest, where journalists and intellectuals will not remain mute, where the will of the people of the world will be central, and human security will prevail over state security and corporate profits.


Appendix: List of Legal Documents

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948)

The Convention on the Political Rights of Women (1952)

The Declaration of the Rights of the Child (1959)

The Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (1963)

The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1966)

The Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (1979)

The Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (1984)

The Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989)

The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (1998)

The European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (1950)

The American Convention on Human Rights (1969)

The Code of Conduct for the Armed Forces of the United States of America (1963)

What more need be said


Peace.

www.missionnotaccomplished.us - A simple question, my fellow Americans, just where in the 10 commandments do I find authorization for killing and torturing people?