An illegal war?

So Lou Dobbs and Kitty Pilgrim are outraged that Kofi Annan said the “war” in Iraq was illegal. What on earth do they think it was? A “pre-emptive” strike against a sovereign nation that was no threat to the United States or anyone else was clearly an illegal act. Precisely the grounds for prosecuting Germany for starting WWII. Furthermore, it was not only illegal, it was unconstitutional. There is nothing in the constitution that allows the Congress to give the President the unilateral power to declare war. One might argue that the Congress did something stupid but it was still in violation of the constitution that says only the Congress has the power to declare war. Thus no war was actually declared except in the same sense as one might have declared war on poverty or drugs or whatever. There is no “war” on terrorism because you cannot have a war against a method of attack. And it was not a war against terrorism because Iraq was not a terrorist country. Iraq had nothing to do with the terrorist attack on New York. It was not only illegal and immoral, it was also unnecesary. And those who started it must someday be held accountable for the thousands and thousands of deaths and injuries that did not have to happen.

In spite of Bush/Cheney’s attempts to justify this totally unjust “war,” there is absolutely no compelling reason for why it had to happen. Iraq was not a threat. Indeed, even if they had had nuclear weapons they would not have been much of threat. Unseating a vicious dictator was not a reason. The U.S. supported Hussein while he was a dictator and even gave him weapons of mass destruction to use against Iran. And even now we continue to support dictators in other parts of the world. He had no weapons of mass destruction and to now claim that he had the intent to have them is so ridiculous as to go without further comment. He had nothing to do with Osama bin Laden or the Taliban. Nothing whatsoever. The fact that he had not complied with United Nations directives in the past was not a reason for the attack either. He was in compliance at the time of the attack. U.N. inspectors were right there on the ground with no restrictions on their activities. They had found nothing and were not given time to continue their inspections – so eager were Bush/Cheney to attack. Furthermore, if non compliance with U.N. directives is a cause for war what about Israel which has been totally out of compliance with U.N. directives for years and years?

The fact is, there was no justification for attacking Iraq. None. Bush/Cheney and their gang of neocon international gangsters have done irreparable damage to Iraq, the United States, the United Nations and the world. The very idea that they would attempt to run for office after what they have done is absurd, indeed, loathsome. The possibility that they might actually succeed is frightening beyond belief. If this should actually happen it will only prove that the United States is a nation of mental midgets who get what they deserve.