- The US/UK/French-led war on Libya will be remembered
as one of history's greatest crimes. It violates the letter and spirit
of international law and America's Constitution.
-
- The Nuremberg Tribunal's Chief Justice Robert Jackson
(a US Supreme Court Justice) called Nazi war crimes "the supreme international
crime against peace."
-
- His November 21, 1945 opening remarks said:
-
- "The wrongs which we seek to condemn and punish
have been so calculated, so malignant, and so devastating, that civilization
cannot tolerate their being ignored, because it cannot survive their being
repeated."
-
- He called aggressive war "the greatest menace of
our times."
-
- International law defines crimes against peace as "planning,
preparation, initiation, or waging of wars of aggression, or a war in violation
of international treaties, agreements or assurances, or participation in
a common plan or conspiracy for the accomplishment of any of the foregoing."
-
- All US post-WW II wars fall under this definition.
-
- Since then, America waged direct and proxy premeditated,
aggressive wars worldwide, killing millions in East and Central Asia, North
and other parts of Africa, the Middle East, and Europe, as well as Central
and South America.
-
- Arguably they exceed the worst of Nazi and imperial Japanese
crimes combined, including genocide, torture mass destruction of nonmilitary
related sites, colonization, occupation, plunder and exploitation.
-
- Third Reich criminals were hanged for their crimes. America's
remained free to commit greater ones, notably today against Iraq, Afghanistan,
Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia, Palestine, and the ongoing Libya atrocity - a
scandalous "supreme international crime against peace," demanding
justice not forthcoming.
-
- In fact, US war criminals are considered hostis humani
generis - enemies of mankind. War crimes are against the jus gentium -
the law of nations. Established international law addressed them, including
the UN Charter. It's unequivocal explaining under what conditions violence
and coercion (by one state against another) are justified.
-
- Article 2(3) and Article 33(1) require peaceful settlement
of international disputes. Article 2(4) prohibits force or its threatened
use. And Article 51 allows the "right of individual or collective
self-defense if an armed attack occurs against a Member....until the Security
Council has taken measures to maintain international peace and security."
-
- In other words, justifiable self-defense is permissible.
However, Charter Articles 2(3), 2(4), and 33 absolutely prohibit any unilateral
threat or use of force not:
-
- -- specifically allowed under Article 51;
-
- -- authorized by the Security Council; or
- -- permitted by the US Constitution only amendments ratified
by three-fourths of the states can change.
-
- In addition, three General Assembly resolutions also
prohibit non-consensual belligerent intervention, including:
-
- -- the 1965 Declaration on the Inadmissibility of Intervention
in the Domestic Affairs of States and the Protection of Their Independence
and Sovereignty;
-
- -- the 1970 Declaration on Principles of International
Law Concerning Friendly Relations and Cooperation among States in Accordance
with the Charter of the United Nations; and
-
- -- the 1974 Definition of Aggression.
-
- Moreover, various post-WW II Conventions, including the
four Geneva ones and their Common Article 1 obligate all High Contracting
Parties to "respect and ensure respect for the present Convention
in all circumstances;" namely, to apply its principles universally,
requiring High Contracting Parties "search for persons alleged to
have committed, or to have ordered to be committed, such grave breaches,
and shall bring such persons, regardless of their nationality, before its
own courts."
-
- At Nuremberg, the concepts of individual and command
criminal responsibility were addressed, the Tribunal Principles holding
that "(a)ny person who commits an act which constitutes a crime under
international law is responsible therefor and liable to punishment....(c)rimes
against international law are committed by men, not by abstract entities,
and only by punishing individuals who commit (them) can the provisions
of international law be enforced."
-
- The Rome Statute's Article 25 of the International Criminal
Court (ICC) codified this principle, affirming the culpability of persons
committing crimes of war and against humanity.
-
- In addition, commanders and their superiors are specifically
culpable if they "either knew or, owing to the circumstances at the
time, should have known that the forces were committing or about to commit
such crimes, (and) failed to take all necessary and reasonable measures
within his or her power to prevent or repress their commission or to submit
the matter to the competent authorities for investigation and prosecutions."
-
- Moreover, Nuremberg established that immunity is null
and void, including for heads of state, other top officials, and top commanders.
Further, genocide, crimes of war and against humanity are so grave that
statute of limitation provisions don't apply.
-
- As a result, every living past and present US president,
top and subordinate officials, and Pentagon commanders involved in war(s)
should be prosecuted for their crimes before a special Nuremberg-type tribunal,
holding them fully accountable.
-
- Genocide, other forms of mass murder, targeted and indiscriminate
destruction, and other crimes of war and against humanity are too intolerable
to go unpunished.
-
- Nonetheless, America and its conspiratorial allies commit
them - today, horrifically against Libya, a small nonbelligerent country
being terrorized, destroyed, and plundered lawlessly in the name of "liberation."
-
- America is the lead offender, committing what its 1996
War Crimes Act calls "grave breaches," defined as "willful
killing, torture or inhuman treatment, including biological (or other illegal)
experiments, willfully causing great suffering or serious injury to body
or health."
-
- As a result, Libya is an ongoing atrocity, a Nuremberg
level crime, one of history's greatest.
-
- Yet on August 22, Obama had the audacity to say America,
its "allies and partners in the international community (are committed)
to protect the people of Libya, and to support a peaceful transition to
democracy."
-
- In fact, unspeakable war crimes are being committed to
"protect the people of Libya." Included are civilians being terror
bombed daily, to break their morale, cause panic, weaken their will to
resist, and inflict mass casualties and punishment.
-
- However, Geneva and other international laws forbid the
targeting of civilians. The Laws of War: Laws and Customs of War on Land
(1907 Hague IV Convention) states:
-
- -- Article 25: "The attack or bombardment, by whatever
means, of towns, villages, dwellings, or buildings which are undefended
is prohibited."
-
- -- Article 26: "The officer in command of an attacking
force must, before commencing a bombardment, except in cases of assault,
do all in his power to warn the authorities."
-
- Article 27: "In sieges and bombardments, all necessary
steps must be taken to spare, as far as possible, buildings dedicated to
religion, art, science, or charitable purposes, historic monuments, hospitals,
and places where the sick and wounded are collected, provided they are
not being used at the time for military purposes."
-
- The besieged should visibly indicate these buildings
or places and notify an adversary beforehand. Given today's intelligence
and high-tech capabilities, belligerents can easily identify civilian and
military targets.
-
- Fourth Geneva Convention protects civilians in time of
war. It prohibits violence of any type against them and requires treatment
for the sick and wounded.
-
- In September 1938, a League of Nations unanimous resolution
prohibited the:
-
- "bombardment of cities, towns, villages, dwellings
or buildings not in the immediate neighborhood of the operations of land
forces....In cases where (legitimate targets) are so situated, (aircraft)
must abstain from bombardment" if this action indiscriminately affects
civilians.
-
- Long ago Washington trashed international and constitutional
laws, planning for Libya what's ongoing in Iraq and Afghanistan - conquest,
colonization, occupation, plunder and exploitation, excluding any form
of democracy it reviles, including at home.
-
- Major Media Scoundrels Lead Role in America's Wars
-
- When America goes to war, its media are key, reporting
disinformation, propaganda, managed news, and straight Pentagon handouts
instead of real information, commentaries and analysis people deserve.
-
- In the lead, The New York Times operates as the equivalent
of an official information and propaganda ministry, posing as independent
journalism.
-
- August 24 was no exception, writers David Kirkpatrick
and Alan Cowell headlining, "Qaddafi Defiant After Rebel Takeover,"
saying:
-
- "Rebel fighters scoured Tripoli on Wednesday in
their continued search for an elusive and defiant" (Gaddafi) after
NATO landed them on Tripoli's shores with orders to terrorize and loot.
They've taken full advantage, what Kirkpatrick and Cowell didn't explain.
-
- Instead they gloated about a "rebel victory"
very much not won, especially because nothing from Times or other major
media reports is credible. Repeatedly they've been caught lying.
-
- Other same day Times reports headlined:
-
- "Libyans Rejoice in a Castle Filled With Guns and
the Trappings of Power," referring to Gaddafi's Bab al-Aziziya compound
they reportedly stormed with no verification of precisely what's going
on.
-
- "Waves of Disinformation and Confusion Swamp the
Truth in Libya," referring mainly to what it calls "a republic
of lies," not its own shameless daily propaganda, making everything
it reports suspect, unreliable, or falsified.
-
- "Airstrikes More Difficult as War Moves to Tripoli,"
ignoring NATO's ongoing terror bombing, including Apache helicopter gunships
machine-gunning civilians on Tripoli streets, making it unsafe to be out
when they're flying.
-
- "After the Revolution, Hurdles in Reviving the Oil
Sector," leaving unexplained Western plans for Libya's oil, excluding
rivals China and Russia, as well as falsely calling Washington's insurgency
a "revolution."
-
- It's standard New York Times policy to represent wealth
and power interests, betraying readers in the process who deserve better.
-
- Fabricating Celebratory Tripoli Street Euphoria
-
- On August 23, Metro Gael's Global Research.ca's article
headlined, "The Libya Media Hoax: Fabricating Scenes of Jubilation
and Euphoria on Green Square," providing another example of media
lies, saying:
-
- It "will surely go down in history as one of the
most cynical hoaxes committed by corporate media since the manipulated
pictures of Iraqis toppling Saddam Hussein's statue" after America's
2003 invasion.
-
- Shamefully, Al Jazeera committed the latest fraud, airing
fake live Green Square celebrations, its reporter, Zeina Khodr declaring,
"Libya is in the hands of the opposition."
-
- She lied and knew it. In fact, Al Jazeera's footage was
"an elaborate and criminal hoax. The report had been prefabricated
in a" Doha, Qatar studio.
-
- Qatar is a NATO coalition member, its troops on the ground
aiding insurgents along with US and UK special forces.
-
- Libyan intelligence knew about the fake footage in advance,
warning about it ahead of its release on "Rayysse state television."
-
- The idea is old and familiar - to create an illusion
of non-existant mass support for NATO and insurgents Libyans revile. It's
done to diffuse popular resistance against them.
-
- The full article can be read through the following link:
-
- http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=26155
-
- It explains a classic PsyOps deception, this time aired
by an alleged trusted source, showing it's as corrupted as the rest, lying
instead of reporting accurately.
-
- A Final Comment
-
- Mahdi Nazemroaya is a friend, a Middle East/Central Asian
analyst, a Center for Research on Globalization (CRG) research associate,
and a regular Progressive Radio News Hour contributor.
-
- Providing accurate reports from Tripoli, he got death
threats. Two other friends - Lizzie Phelan and Franklin Lamb, as well as
other independent journalists also faced recriminations for doing what
corporate media scoundrels don't - their job.
-
- In an email, Mahdi said: "I am afraid I will be
executed in cold blood."
-
- That's been the NATO-wrought danger in Libya, notably
in Tripoli, being carpet bombed and strafed by helicopter gunships, machine-gunning
civilians in cold blood.
-
- On August 24, CRG Director Michel Chossudovsky wrote
about Mahdi, saying:
-
- In Libya for over two months, he was dedicated to "honest
factual reporting, with a concern for human life, in solidarity with those
Libyan men, women and children who lost their lives in bombing raids on
residential areas, schools and hospitals."
-
- He literally risked his life doing it, telling this writer
he had to stay supportively for the people he so much cares about. That
commitment goes way beyond good journalism and analysis. It's an expression
of character too few others have.
-
- Mahdi has it, so do Lizzie, Franklin, and other honest
journalists who went to a war zone to report truths - fully, accurately,
and courageously, "challeng(ing) the lies of the mainstream media,"
said Chossudovsky.
-
- In so doing, they "threaten the NATO-media consensus,"
in the process jeopardizing their own safety.
-
- NATO wants to make Libya an Orwellian society in which
"War is peace. Freedom is slavery," and "Ignorance is strength."
Orwell also said: "During times of universal deceit, telling the truth
is a revolutionary act."
-
- It's also a courageous one when done at great personal
risk. Mahdi, Lizzie, Franklin, and others reporting accurately are true
heros, supporting Libyans and free people everywhere while putting themselves
in harm's way.
-
- It doesn't get any more heroic than that!
-
- Note:
-
- On August 24 at 4PM Tripoli time, the International Red
Cross rescued (or negotiated the release of) over 30 journalists trapped
inside the city's Rixos Hotel. A ship heading to Tripoli's seacoast will
take them out of the country.
-
- Reports from the London Guardian, CNN, and other corporate
media sources falsely claimed Gaddafi loyalists held them hostage, when,
in fact, they were threatened by insurgent hooligans.
-
- Hopefully, they're now safe, but won't fully be until
heading home out of harm's way.
-
- An overnight email from Mahdi said:
-
- "In the Corinthia Hotel now. Will head to Malta
then home via Europe."
-
- Further updates will follow.
-
- Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at
lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.
-
- Also visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com and
listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive
Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network Thursdays at 10AM US Central
time and Saturdays and Sundays at noon. All programs are archived for easy
listening.
-
- http://www.progressiveradionetwork.com/the-progressive-news-hour/.
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