Bush's Illegal War

October 07, 2004

It’s not just Kofi Annan who says, correctly, Bush’s war in Iraq was illegal. Kerry may have trouble citing Annan, but now he can rely on that paragon of international correctness, the Council on Foreign Relations’ Foreign Affairs. Here is an excerpt from the just-released current issue, in a piece called “The Sources of American Legitimacy ,” by Robert W. Tucker and David C. Hendrickson:

Throughout its history, the United States has made gaining international legitimacy a top priority of its foreign policy. The 18 months since the launch of the Iraq war, however, have left the country's hard-earned respect and credibility in tatters. In going to war without a legal basis or the backing of traditional U.S. allies, the Bush administration brazenly undermined Washington's long-held commitment to international law, its acceptance of consensual decision-making, its reputation for moderation, and its identification with the preservation of peace. The road back will be a long and hard one.

Note “without a legal basis.” Brilliantly, the piece takes on the illegal NATO war in Kosovo, too, which gave Bush-Cheney the precedent for the illegal Iraq war. And this:

Washington had acted illegally in going to war against Iraq, and events following the end of major combat operations (the absence of WMD, the growing anarchy) served to weaken rather than strengthen its case. It had gone far beyond the parameters of the 1990s debate over whether the United States should give the nod to the UN or to NATO, evidently deciding that it could dispense with both. It had confirmed the observation of Alexander Hamilton that the "spirit of moderation in a state of overbearing power is a phenomenon which has not yet appeared, and which no wise man will expect ever to see." And it had demonstrated by its every action that it had no plan to secure the peace. Peace was the furthest thing from the administration's agenda.

And this:

Such illegal uses of force are in fact unnecessary for U.S. security and actually imperil it. The Iraq war clearly illustrates both points: not only did containment and deterrence offer a perfectly workable method of dealing with Saddam's Iraq, but the consequences of the U.S. occupation have also made Americans much more insecure. Those consequences include daily attacks on American soldiers, the inflammation of opinion in the Muslim world (encouraging new recruits for al Qaeda), and the possibility of further wars arising from the potential disintegration of the Iraqi state.

Read the whole article. I don’t agree with everything in it. But it is a stunning, semi-official establishment verdict, not a leftie one.