UK Times: British (USA) bombing raids were illegal

[merkins]

A SHARP increase in British and American bombing raids on Iraq in the run-up to war “to put pressure on the regime” was illegal under international law, according to leaked Foreign Office legal advice.
The advice was first provided to senior ministers in March 2002. Two months later RAF and USAF jets began “spikes of activity” designed to goad Saddam Hussein into retaliating and giving the allies a pretext for war.


The Foreign Office advice shows military action to pressurise the regime was “not consistent with” UN law, despite American claims that it was.
The decision to provoke the Iraqis emerged in leaked minutes of a meeting between Tony Blair and his most senior advisers — the so-called Downing Street memo published by The Sunday Times shortly before the general election.
Democratic congressmen claimed last week the evidence it contains is grounds for impeaching President George Bush.


The allies had no power to use military force to put pressure of any kind on the regime.
The increased attacks on Iraqi installations, which senior US officers admitted were designed to “degrade” Iraqi air defences, began six months before the UN passed resolution 1441, which the allies claim authorised military action. The war finally started in March 2003.


Although the legality of the war has been more of an issue in Britain than in America, the revelations indicate Bush may also have acted illegally, since Congress did not authorise military action until October 11 2002.
The air war had already begun six weeks earlier and the spikes of activity had been underway for five months.


http://www.timesonline.co.uk/printFriendly/0,,1-523-1660300-523,00.html

[buddysmellgood]

1. Thanks for posting. You beat me to it

[CJCRANE]

2. I wonder if the pilots knew

they were being used as bait:

"RAF and USAF jets began “spikes of activity” designed to goad Saddam Hussein into retaliating and giving the allies a pretext for war".

[joemurphy]

3. Illegal Air Raids

So, in March 2002 a decision was made to launch illegal air raids. In May 2002 these air raids, in fact, started.

"US/UK bombing of Iraq intensifies: Despite strict No-Fly Zone guidelines, Rumsfeld had ordered a more aggressive approach What was going on? There were very strict rules of engagement in the no-fly zones. Rumsfeld later said this was simply to prevent the Iraqis attacking allied aircraft, but a British Foreign Officers' remark told more: In reality, the "spikes of activity" were designed "to put pressure on the regime." (Sunday Times 5/29/05)

"RAF and US aircraft doubled the rate at which they were dropping bombs on Iraq in 2002 in an attempt to provoke Saddam Hussein into giving the allies an excuse for war. This was six months before the United Nations resolution that Tony Blair and Lord Goldsmith, the attorney-general, argued gave the coalition the legal basis for war."

May 23, 2002 – In a speech delivered in Berlin by Bush following a meeting with German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, Bush states “I have no war plans on my desk," Bush said at a Berlin news conference during the first stop of his European tour. "We've got to use all means at our disposal to deal with Saddam Hussein." His statement was in answer to a question about U.S. plans regarding Iraq and heightened concerns voiced throughout the world about the war on terror

May 26, 2002 - Bush states in a Press Conference that he told French President Jacques Chirac that “Let me start with the Iraqi regime. The stated policy of my government is that we have a regime change. And as I told President Chirac, I have no war plans on my desk. And I will continue to consult closely with him. We do view Saddam Hussein as a serious, significant -- serious threat to stability and peace.“ May 26, 2002

June 1, 2002 - In a speech at West Point, Bush commits the United States to a doctrine of preemption: "Our security will require all Americans… be ready for preemptive action when necessary to defend our liberty and to defend our lives." (White House)

July 12, 2002 – William Kristol states Bush is developing “war plans” for Iraq in an interview on Australian television ::

“ TONY JONES: Looking at the rhetoric for a minute, in June President Bush said, "I've got no war plans on my desk."

This week, "I'm involved in the military planning."

Is this a clear shift in the rhetoric and does it mean that the State Department's position is weakening?

WILLIAM KRISTOL: Yes, I wouldn't overinterpret individual sentences.

I think it is convenient for the President to say he has no war plans on his desk and it is truthful until he has a war plan on his desk and then he signs off on it or adjusts it.”

June 23, 2002 – Bush states at Press Conference that “I told the Prime Minister there are no war plans on my desk." - June 23, 2002 to Australian Prime Minister Howard “Yes, I told the Prime Minister there are no war plans on my desk. I haven't changed my opinion about Saddam Hussein, however. He is -- this is a person who gassed his own people, and possesses weapons of mass destruction. And so as I told the American people, and I told John, we'll use all tools at our disposal to deal with him. And, of course, before there is any action -- military action, I would closely consult with our close friend. There are no plans on my desk right now”


By the end of August the "spikes in activity" had become a full air offensive.(Sunday Times-Reported 5/29/05)

September 5, 2002 - When It became clear that Saddam Hussein would not provide justification to launch the air war, the U.S. and UK launched it anyway, beneath the cloak of the no-fly zone. More than a hundred allied aircraft attacked the H-3 airfield, Iraq's main air defence site. At the furthest extreme of the southern no-fly zone, far away from the areas that needed to be patrolled to prevent attacks on the Shias, it was destroyed not because it was a threat to the patrols, but to allow allied special forces operating from Jordan to enter Iraq undetected. (New Statesman)

October 10, 2002 - Congress passes the Joint Resolution to Authorize the Use of United States Armed Forces Against Iraq. (White House)

Thus, according to the above, we were illegally bombing Iraq and inserting special forces units into Iraq months before Congress authorized Bush to use force to eliminate any "threat" to the US.