Iraq War Illegal Says Kofi Annan

[muriel_volestrangler]

http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=3503281

United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan tonight said that the war on Iraq was “illegal”.

Mr Annan said the war was “not in conformity” with the UN Security Council or with the UN Charter.

He also said there could not be credible elections in Iraq next January if the current unrest continued.

Asked if there was legal authority for the war on Iraq, Mr Annan told the BBC World Service: “I have stated clearly that it was not in conformity with the security council, with the UN charter.”

Stating the obvious, but nice for it to be said officially.

[mazzarro]

1. Nice for it to be said officially - though it is too little, too late IMHO

eom

[Cha]

4. My thought, too! It would have been Nice for

this to have been Shouted Out, Yesterday! And by Yesterday, I mean in March, 2003!!!

[Carla in Ca]

8. might be pay back for * snub

timing is OK with me. Iraq is becoming the engine that will drive the rest of the campaign. It is everywhere. Press, UN, Edwards, Charles Hagel and McCain. And thats just the last 2 days.
This is THE * breaker.

[HysteryDiagnosis]

2. Isn't it amazing that over half of the country knows this

has known it... and the other half has little or no clue.... just goes to show you how people can be WILLINGLY misled when they are bathed in fear day after day.

From what I remember... Americans don't cave to fear... and they certainly shouldn't let fear rule their decisions, lives, and voting habits.

"The corporations don't have to lobby the government any more. They are the government."
Jim Hightower

[Karenina]

3. Having the U.S. invasion declared

ILLEGAL by the ROTW would be GOOD for EVERYONE. :bounce:

[TheFarseer]

5. He's said this all along

This is nothing new. Ironically, one of the reasons Neo-cons gave for the war was to enforce UN resolutions. Unfortunately for them, the UN didn't want this particular resolution enforced or the war, but this doesn't seem to matter to them. They are determined to "help"(read: bomb, kill and steal their natural resources) all kinds of people who don't want our help. Of course they aren't interested in helping the Sudanese and they aren't interested in enforcing UN resolutions against Israel(eventhough they *are* BS but that's beside the point)

[gottaB]

9. Yes he has said it all along

Even before his sharply critical statements in March 2003, Annan was talking about legitimacy and the rule of law in a very pointed way.

[PurityOfEssence]

6. If standing near him, move; a Doctor hit his knee with a mallet in 1999

and there's a possibility that his leg might kick reflexively in the next month or so.

It's statements like this that fuel the fire of the evil blowhards who constantly deride the U.N. as useless.

It's the League of Nations; may the fates help us all.

[0007]

7. WAR crimes are illuminating in the background.

[NNN0LHI]

10. Like a 1000 watt metal halide lamp

Some people are going to pay for this some day. That is a gimme.

Don

[The_Casual_Observer]

11. Why didn't the UN call for sanctions against the US already?

This should have been done from the outset.

[Briar]

12. Like the ones against Israel?

They'll be ignored. As this statement will be ignored.

Our government's line is (a) they know better than the secretary general and the war was legal because they say so, so there and (b) it will be justified in a few years time by the facts on the ground.

Thus any burglar who, after years of crime, gives money to charity when the police finally track him down can claim to be exonerated by his current generosity.

[Englander]

13. Well,thanks for that "Cuppa".....

but we knew that 18 months ago!



http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1305709,00.html

>>The UN chief had warned the US and its allies a week before the invasion in March 2003 that military action would violate the UN charter. But he has hitherto refrained from using the damning word "illegal".<<

[UpInArms]

14. related article: BBC: Choice of words matters

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3661976.stm

excerpt:

So why does he think it illegal?

In the interview, he remarked that Resolution 1441, passed on 8 November 2002, warned Iraq that there would be "serious consequences" if it did not comply with UN demands over its suspected weapons programmes.

Mr Annan said it should have been left to the UN Security Council, in a second resolution, to determine what those consequences were.

The United States and Britain argued they were carrying out the wishes of the Security Council and that their authority was based not just on Resolution 1441, but on previous UN resolutions.

The British Attorney General, Lord Goldsmith, issued a public statement of his outline argument, though he did not publish, or even give the members of the cabinet, his detailed reasoning.

He said the original Resolution 678 from 1990, which allowed for "all necessary means" to end Iraq's occupation of Kuwait and "restore international peace and security" in the region, still applied.

...much more...