WTI Press Release About Jury Statement

Via Zeynep of Under the Same Sun:

The Jury defined this war as one of the most unjust in history: `The Bush and Blair administrations blatantly ignored the massive opposition to the war expressed by millions of people around the world. They embarked upon one of the most unjust, immoral, and cowardly wars in history. The Anglo-American occupation of Iraq of the last 27 months has led to the destruction and devastation of the Iraqi state and society. Law and order have broken down completely, resulting in a pervasive lack of human security; the physical infrastructure is in shambles; the health care delivery system is a mess; the education system has ceased to function; there is massive environmental and ecological devastation; and, the cultural and archeological heritage of the Iraqi people has been desecrated.’

On the basis of the preceding findings and recalling the Charter of the United Nations and other legal documents, the jury has established the following charges against the Governments of the US and the UK:

  • Planning, preparing, and waging the supreme crime of a war of aggression in contravention of the United Nations Charter and the Nuremberg Principles.
  • Targeting the civilian population of Iraq and civilian infrastructure
  • Using disproportionate force and indiscriminate weapon systems
  • Failing to safeguard the lives of civilians during military activities and during the occupation period thereafter
  • Using deadly violence against peaceful protestors
  • Imposing punishments without charge or trial, including collective punishment
  • Subjecting Iraqi soldiers and civilians to torture and cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment
  • Re-writing the laws of a country that has been illegally invaded and occupied
  • Willfully devastating the environment
  • Actively creating conditions under which the status of Iraqi women has seriously been degraded
  • Failing to protect humanity’s rich archaeological and cultural heritage in Iraq
  • Obstructing the right to information, including the censoring of Iraqi media
  • Redefining torture in violation of international law, to allow use of torture and illegal detentions

The Jury also established charges against the Security Council of United Nations for failing to stop war crimes and crimes against humanity among other failures, against the Governments of the Coalition of the Willing for collaborating in the invasion and occupation of Iraq, against the Governments of Other Countries for allowing the use of military bases and air space and providing other logistical support, against Private Corporations for profiting from the war, against the Major Corporate Media for disseminating deliberate falsehoods and failing to report atrocities.

As I’ve mentioned before, what’s essentially going on in Iraq amounts to genocide. Genocide may be broadly defined as follows – “Genocide has two phases: destruction of the national pattern of the oppressed group; the other, the imposition of the national pattern of the oppressor. This imposition, in turn, may be made upon the oppressed population which is allowed to remain, or upon the territory alone, after removal of the population and colonization of the area by the oppressor’s own nationals” (Raphael Lemkin in his 1944 book Axis Rule in Occupied Europe). Lemkin goes on to say, “Generally speaking, genocide does not necessarily mean the immediate destruction of a nation, except when accomplished by mass killings of all members of a nation. It is intended rather to signify a coordinated plan of different actions aiming at the destruction of essential foundations of the life of national groups, with the aim of annihilating the groups themselves [even if all individuals within the dissolved group physically survive]. The objectives of such a plan would be a disintegration of political and social institutions, of culture, language, national feelings, religion, and the economic existence of national groups, and the destruction of personal security, liberty, health, dignity, and even the lives of the individuals belonging to such groups. Genocide is directed at the national group as an entity, and the actions involved are directed at individuals, not in their individual capacity, but as members of the national group.” The term’s origin comes from the Greek root genos (meaning “type” – think along the lines of tribe or race) and the Latin word cide (meaning “killing”).

At this point in time, I am rather pessimistic about the perpetrators of the Iraq debacle being brought to justice. It’s been mentioned before that at most a few bit players may receive some punishment for individual actions, which will give the impression that a) the various crimes against humanity were caused by a handful of “bad apples” and b) that those in power are “doing something” to bring about justice. Of course, both impressions are patently false. Our job is to continue to present those “inconvenient truths” that many do not want to examine but that need to be examined nonetheless.

I remember as a youngster receiving a paperback book that had the contents of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. I’m assuming it was something my parents got for me. Whether they realize it or not, that book made a strong impression on me. I probably read through that book enough times that eventually its binding wore out. Okay, so I might have been a somewhat unusual kid, but the main thing is that the ideals behind those documents are ones that I took to heart and continue to take to heart. What we have seen our own government do in Iraq (and elsewhere, including domestically) is the antithesis of those noble ideals. The time has long since come to demand that our republic return to a closer approximation of those basic ideals. As a nation we are rapidly losing our soul. Ask yourself what our kids and grandkids will be thinking of us when they reflect on this dark period in our history.

Author: James Benjamin

Nothing to see here. Move along.