British lawyers warned government pre-war bombing of Iraq was illegal: report - Yahoo! News
British lawyers warned government pre-war bombing of Iraq was illegal: report - Yahoo! News: report
Sat Jun 18, 7:10 PM ET
LONDON (AP) - Lawyers told the British government U.S. and British bombing of
Iraq in the months before the 2003 war was illegal under international law, a newspaper reported Saturday.
For the 10 years prior to the invasion of Iraq in March 2003, the United States and Britain enforced no-fly zones over the north and south of Iraq.
Almost a year before the war started, they began to strike more frequently. The ordnance dropped on Iraq rose from 272 kilograms in April 2002 to nine tonnes in June and 50 tonnes in September, British government figures showed.
Leaked minutes of a July 23, 2002, meeting between Prime Minister
Tony Blair and top government officials cite U.S. Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld as saying: 'The U.S. had already begun 'spikes of activity' to put pressure on the regime.'
The Sunday Times newspaper said British Foreign Office lawyers cautioned in 2002 aircraft could only patrol the no-fly zones to deter attacks by Iraqi forces and were not authorized to put pressure on the Iraqi government.
The
United Nations had not yet passed Resolution 1441, which was used to justify military action, and the U.S. Congress did not authorize the use of force until October 2002.
The newspaper quoted Lord Goodhart, vice-president of the International Commission of Jurists, as backing the Foreign Office lawyers' view.
Goodhart said if 'the purpose was to soften up Iraq for a future invasion or even to intimidate Iraq, the coalition forces were acting without lawful authority,' the Sunday Times reported."
Link...
Sat Jun 18, 7:10 PM ET
LONDON (AP) - Lawyers told the British government U.S. and British bombing of
Iraq in the months before the 2003 war was illegal under international law, a newspaper reported Saturday.
For the 10 years prior to the invasion of Iraq in March 2003, the United States and Britain enforced no-fly zones over the north and south of Iraq.
Almost a year before the war started, they began to strike more frequently. The ordnance dropped on Iraq rose from 272 kilograms in April 2002 to nine tonnes in June and 50 tonnes in September, British government figures showed.
Leaked minutes of a July 23, 2002, meeting between Prime Minister
Tony Blair and top government officials cite U.S. Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld as saying: 'The U.S. had already begun 'spikes of activity' to put pressure on the regime.'
The Sunday Times newspaper said British Foreign Office lawyers cautioned in 2002 aircraft could only patrol the no-fly zones to deter attacks by Iraqi forces and were not authorized to put pressure on the Iraqi government.
The
United Nations had not yet passed Resolution 1441, which was used to justify military action, and the U.S. Congress did not authorize the use of force until October 2002.
The newspaper quoted Lord Goodhart, vice-president of the International Commission of Jurists, as backing the Foreign Office lawyers' view.
Goodhart said if 'the purpose was to soften up Iraq for a future invasion or even to intimidate Iraq, the coalition forces were acting without lawful authority,' the Sunday Times reported."
Link...
posted by A. J. Franklin @ 10:06
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