Who Voted for War With Zimbabwe?

According to the Washington Post, President Bush believes his reelection constitutes a "ratification" of his "approach toward Iraq."

Far from being "ratified" in the rest of the world – including the United Kingdom – Bush’s "approach toward Iraq" has given rise to concerns about the current state of international law in general and whether the prohibitions against the use of force on which the United Nations Charter is founded are still respected by the United States.

Last summer, 40 members of Britain’s Parliament asked UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan to seek the opinion of the UN’s International Court of Justice on the "legality" under the UN Charter of the Iraq invasion.

“We look to the court for an advisory opinion on this war, not only to address the casualties and damage done to the people and country of Iraq, but also to offer clear guidelines for the future about the legality of preemptive wars.”

Iraqi Operation Freedom was neither justified to – nor sanctioned by – the United Nations Security Council, hence it constituted a flagrant violation of the UN Charter, applicable sections of which are quoted below.

Article 39:

"The Security Council shall determine the existence of any threat to the peace, breach of the peace, or act of aggression and shall make recommendations, or decide what measures shall be taken in accordance with Articles 41 and 42, to maintain or restore international peace and security."

Article 41:

"The Security Council may decide what measures not involving the use of armed force are to be employed to give effect to its decisions, and it may call upon the Members of the United Nations to apply such measures. These may include complete or partial interruption of economic relations and of rail, sea, air, postal, telegraphic, radio, and other means of communication, and the severance of diplomatic relations."

Article 42:

"Should the Security Council consider that measures provided for in Article 41 would be inadequate or have proved to be inadequate, it may take such action by air, sea, or land forces as may be necessary to maintain or restore international peace and security. Such action may include demonstrations, blockade, and other operations by air, sea, or land forces of Members of the United Nations."

Article 46:

"Plans for the application of armed force shall be made by the Security Council with the assistance of the Military Staff Committee.

[The Military Staff Committee shall consist of the Chiefs of Staff of the permanent members of the Security Council or their representatives.… The Military Staff Committee shall be responsible under the Security Council for the strategic direction of any armed forces placed at the disposal of the Security Council.]"

In 2002, the United States provided no evidence to the Security Council that Iraq was a "threat to the peace." In fact, all evidence provided by Iraq and UN inspectors was to the contrary.

Hence, the Security Council didn’t authorize any actions involving force against Iraq by member states. Nor were any plans even made for the application of force.

But none of that matters to Bush. The American electorate has "ratified" his approach to Iraq. His second inaugural address promises more applications of the Bush Doctrine to those characterized in it as "rogue states," namely, those who:

  • brutalize their own people and squander their national resources for the personal gain of the rulers;
  • display no regard for international law, threaten their neighbors, and callously violate international treaties to which they are party;
  • are determined to acquire weapons of mass destruction, along with other advanced military technology, to be used as threats or offensively to achieve the aggressive designs of these regimes;
  • sponsor terrorism around the globe; and
  • reject basic human values and hate the United States and everything for which it stands.

    • According to the Bush Doctrine, "The United States has long maintained the option of preemptive actions to counter a sufficient threat to our national security.… To forestall or prevent such hostile acts by our adversaries, the United States will, if necessary, act preemptively.… The purpose of our actions will always be to eliminate a specific threat to the United States or our allies and friends."

    So you soccer moms have "ratified" the application of the Bush Doctrine to Iraq – haven’t you? How about applying it to other "outposts of tyranny" identified by Bush’s new secretary of state?

    Cuba? Burma? North Korea? Iran? Belarus? Zimbabwe?

    Did you ratify that?

    Author: Gordon Prather

    Physicist James Gordon Prather has served as a policy implementing official for national security-related technical matters in the Federal Energy Agency, the Energy Research and Development Administration, the Department of Energy, the Office of the Secretary of Defense and the Department of the Army. Dr. Prather also served as legislative assistant for national security affairs to U.S. Sen. Henry Bellmon, R-Okla. -- ranking member of the Senate Budget Committee and member of the Senate Energy Committee and Appropriations Committee. Dr. Prather had earlier worked as a nuclear weapons physicist at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California and Sandia National Laboratory in New Mexico.