Obama's Af-Pak War is Not Just Deadly and Counterproductive: It's Illegal

[StarfarerBill]

By Marjorie Cohn, AlterNet

"President Obama accepted the Nobel Peace Prize nine days after he announced he would send 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan. His escalation of that war is not what the Nobel committee envisioned when it sought to encourage him to make peace, not war.

"In 1945, in the wake of two wars that claimed millions of lives, the nations of the world created the United Nations system to "save succeeding generations from the scourge of war." The UN Charter is based on the principles of international peace and security as well as the protection of human rights. But the United States, one of the founding members of the UN, has often flouted the commands of the charter, which is part of U.S. law under the Supremacy Clause of the Constitution.

"Although the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan was as illegal as the invasion of Iraq, many Americans saw it as a justifiable response to the attacks of September 11, 2001. The cover of Time magazine called it "The Right War." Obama campaigned on ending the Iraq war but escalating the war in Afghanistan. But a majority of Americans now oppose that war as well.

"The UN Charter provides that all member states must settle their international disputes by peaceful means, and no nation can use military force except in self-defense or when authorized by the Security Council. After the 9/11 attacks, the council passed two resolutions, neither of which authorized the use of military force in Afghanistan."

[Last Stand]

1. When exactly did we declare war?

I must have been out getting my health care at the time.

[izquierdista]

2. December 8, 1941

That was the last time Congress (the only ones who can) declared war. Apparently we have been at "peace" since V-J day.

[NJmaverick]

3. So the UN's actions in Korea were a violation of their own laws?

this is just getting silly

[StarfarerBill]

4. Yeah, the US just doesn't have the muscle in the UN that it used to.

Though that too was in fact a civil war, the US was able to ram through a resolution in the UN Security Council (which would have failed had the Soviet Union not been boycotting the UN at the time) framing the Northern Korean invasion of Southern Korea as one sovereign nation attacking another.

Even that case can't be made (not by us, anyway) where our assault on and occupation of Afghanistan is concerned; this time, we're the invaders.

[StarfarerBill]

5. Crap...I only now noticed that I neglected to give this article's link; sorry about that.

http://www.alternet.org/rights/144741/obama%27s_af-pak_war_is_not_just_deadly_and_counterproductive%3A_it%27s_illegal