Tony Kevin (Sydney Morning Herald): All the Makings of a War Crime

[Jack Rabbit]

From the Sydney Morning Herald via CommonDreams
Dated Monday November 8

All the Makings of a War Crime - with Australia Silently Onside]
A US-led attack on the Iraqi Sunni-stronghold will breach the Geneva conventions
by Tony Kevin

We need to be clear on what is about to happen in the Iraqi city of Falluja, about 64 kilometers west of Baghdad and a key center of Sunni population in Iraq. This city has for many months held out as a center of Sunni-based political-military resistance, refusing to accept the authority either of the former US-led occupying authority nor, since July, of the interim Iraqi administration led by the Prime Minister, Iyad Allawi.

Falluja is now to be brought to heel by overwhelming military power. As I write this, the US attack on the city has begun. The message to Falluja from the US armed forces in Iraq and from Allawi was brutally simple: submit now to Baghdad's authority or face attack . . . .

What I believe is then likely to be done to Falluja will be a war crime and crime against humanity, morally indefensible by any civilized standard or for that matter, by the Statute of the International Criminal Court (to which, conveniently, neither the US nor Iraqi Government adheres).

This will be no neat, surgical strike. To get the measure of this, think of the Warsaw rising in 1944, or the Russian Army's destruction of the Chechen capital, Grozny. In 1999 this already battered city (of originally 400,000 people) was finally destroyed by massive Russian bombardment. Today, insurgents still fight it out with Russian troops among the ruins.

A few weeks ago, Secretary-General Annan rightly pointed out that, as the invasion of Iraq was based on no immediate treat and had no authorizing resolution from the Security Council, it was illegal.

Mr. Bush and Mr. Blair and their apologists let out a howl, of course, but that changes nothing. The invasion was and the continued occupation is illegal.

Now, civilians are being held hostage for defiance of colonialism. If Kofi Annan had any real integrity, he would call for the convention of an international tribunal for the purpose of apprehending and trying those responsible for war crimes in Iraq, including and especially a twice-dubiously elected US President.

This is Mr. Bush's idea of a mandate. It permits him to commit mass murder with impunity. Where is the outrage?

[RyomaSakamoto]

1. NANKING

[WilliamPitt]

2. Link?

[Jack Rabbit]

3. Ooops!! Sorry, Will

Please click here.

[RyomaSakamoto]

7. 'Body parts everywhere' in Fallujah

http://iafrica.com/news/worldnews/389225.htm

<snip>

"Body parts everywhere!" cries a US soldier as a shell crashes onto a group of suspected rebels in the Iraqi city of Fallujah, where a punishing torrent of firepower thundered down on Tuesday.

More than 500 rounds of 155-millimetre Howitzer cannon shells have been fired on the besieged Sunni stronghold west of Baghdad since a US-Iraqi offensive to take control of the city started on Monday evening, said Sergeant Michael Hamby.

<snip>

Unconfirmed estimates suggest that as many as 100 000 residents of Fallujah could still be inside the city.

In the northwestern Jolan neighbourhood alone - branded the hotbed of insurgent activity in Fallujah - US forces unleashed more than 20 air strikes and some 60 artillery rounds on Monday, said Major Todd Desgrosseilliers.

more...
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x972052

[Briar]

4. I don't know what he means by "makings of"

this is a war crime, and just the most recent of a long series starting with the illegal invasion.

[struggle4progress]

5. kick

:kick:

[indepat]

6. Most Americans seemingly don't give a rat's-ass about such piffles

[tavalon]

8. Murkins don't

Americans do.

[Martin Eden]

9. The invasion was a war crime to begin with

It was an unprovoked war against a country that neither attacked nor threatened us, and lacked the capacity to do so. Everything that followed -- every Iraqi killed and all the property destroyed -- adds to the crime.

Having invaded Iraq, we are certainly responsible for the consequences. The Bush administration, John Kerry, and nearly everyone in our government would argue that we must defeat the insurgents because abandoning the country to them could result in an Iraq far more dangerous and destabilizing than Saddam ever was.

What would happen if we pulled out now? Would Iraq become a base for international terrorism and jihad? Is it possible to defeat the insurgency in the long run and still have a viable Iraqi state? Will things be worse if we stay?

I'm asking because I don't know the answers to these questions. It's academic anyway -- we're there for at least four more years (Kerry wouldn't have pulled out either). I'm looking for the best possible outcome in what may be a no-win situation. In the most practical terms, what should the United States do? (we can't undo what has already been done).

Tony Kevin called Allawi's argument "spurious" that free elections cannot take place unless Fallujah is subdued. I'm sure he doesn't mean to suggest that election officials could have safely operated in Fallujah, so he must mean that "free" elections -- even if they're held throughout Iraq -- would be no more legitimate than the illegal invasion and occupation that installed the current government and is directing the elections.

The crux of the biscuit is the criminality of the U.S. mission in Iraq and the agenda that launched it. The mainstream media may criticize the decision to invade and the mismanagement of the occupation, but unquestioned is the premise that the mission now is about our national security and bringing freedom and democracy to the Iraqi people. Left unmentioned is that those who launched this war never had any intention of leaving Iraq and its huge oil reserves in the hands of Iraqis, or of abandoning the 14 permanent military bases under construction.

The war was launched by lies, the current mission is a lie, and until the truth is told and imperial ambition abandoned we are merely killing people with no prospect for a truly independent Iraq. Oh, there will be elections, but how many Iraqis and others in the Islamic world will consider the resultant government legitimate?

The insurgents aren't fighting against their own freedom and independence -- they're fighting against a foreign power that has siezed their country and has no intention of letting go. Until that changes, our actions in Iraq are compounding the war crimes we've already committed.

What should we do; what can we do?

[susu369]

10. Riverbend's blog

I am haunted after reading this:

http://riverbendblog.blogspot.com/

"Some Terrorists"

“No- this is Majid.” Sama answered my question softly. The baby looked about four months old and had a shock of dark hair, covered with what seemed at first sight to be a little white cap. His eyes were the same hazel color as his mother’s. I smiled down at Majid and noticed that the white thing on his head wasn’t a cap- it was a white gauze bandage. “What’s the bandage for?” I asked, hoping it was just to keep his head warm.

“When we were fleeing the city, we had to come in a pickup truck with two other families. His head got hit with something and there was a scratch. The doctor said that he has to keep the bandage on so that there won’t be an infection.” Her eyes filled as she looked down at the infant and rocked him a bit harder.

“Well, at least everyone is safe… you were very wise to come here.” My mother offered. “Your children are fine- and that’s what’s important.”

This phrase didn’t have quite the effect we expected. Umm Ahmed’s eyes suddenly flowed over and in a moment, she was crying freely. Sama frowned and gently took the baby from her mother’s arms, rising to walk him around in the hallway. My aunt quickly poured a glass of water out for Umm Ahmed and handed it to her, explaining to us, “Ahmed, her fourteen-year-old son, is with his father, still in Falloojeh.”