U.S. Wars: Are They Lawful?
By David Swanson – Global Research, 12 November, 2012

Remarks at the biennial general meeting of the War and Law League in San Francisco on Armistice Day 2012.

I’ll try briefly to make five points.

First, there are clear laws on the books that make U.S. wars unlawful, along with U.S. threats of war and U.S. propaganda for war. The laws are either forgotten, ignored, evaded, or cleverly reinterpreted to reverse their meaning. But they could be enforced someday.

Second, U.S. wars are evolving in ways that make them violate additional laws without bringing them into compliance with any of the laws already violated.

Third, participants in U.S. wars face occasional prosecution at home or abroad for their specific actions, although those actions do not stray from the basic purpose of the wars.

Fourth, other nations are prosecuted for or would be prosecuted if they attempted the same behavior engaged in by the United States.

And Fifth, U.S. wars are launched and conducted by officials elected in an illegitimate system dominated by open bribery.

On the original Armistice Day in 1918, much of the world ended a four-year war that served no useful purpose whatsoever while costing the lives of some 10 million soldiers, 6 million civilians, 21 million soldiers wounded, an outbreak of Spanish influenza that took another 100 million lives, environmental destruction that is ongoing today, the development of new weapons — including chemical weapons — still used today, huge leaps forward in the art of propaganda still plagiarized today, huge setbacks in the struggle for economic justice, and a culture more militarized, more focused on stupid ideas like banning alcohol, and more ready to restrict civil liberties in the name of nationalism, and all for the bargain price, as one author calculated it, of enough money to have given a $2,500 home with $1,000 worth of furniture and five acres of land to every family in Russia, most of the European nations, Canada, the United States, and Australia, plus enough to give every city of over 20,000 a $2 million library, a $3 million hospital, a $20 million college, and still enough left over to buy every piece of property in Germany and Belgium. And it was all legal. Incredibly stupid, but totally legal. Particular atrocities violated laws, but war was not criminal.

The Outlawry Movement of the 1920s — the movement to outlaw war — sought to replace war with arbitration, by first banning war and then developing a code of international law and a court with the authority to settle disputes. The first step was taken in 1928 with the Kellogg-Briand Pact, which banned all war. Today 81 nations are party to that treaty, including ours, and many of them comply with it. I’d like to see additional nations, poorer nations that were left out of the treaty, join it (which they can do simply by stating that intention) and then urge the greatest purveyor of violence in the world to comply.

It’s easier to comply with the U.N. Charter because of the two big loopholes it opened up, allowing wars that are either defensive or simply U.N. approved. As you know, the United States fights wars against unarmed impoverished nations halfway around the planet and calls them defensive. The U.S. fights wars never approved of by the U.N. and claims that they were. When the United States chose never to end World War II, never to demilitarize, de-tax, or de-mobilize, when the U.N. Charter, NATO, the Geneva Conventions, and the CIA made war normal and supposedly civilized it, we lost the ability to think of abolition, or even to award Nobel prizes to those who worked for it. However, the U.N. Charter made threatening war illegal, and while the Kellogg-Briand Pact is forgotten, the U.N. Charter must be intentionally ignored, as the United States is constantly threatening wars.

There has been an International Criminal Court for 10 years now, but it only prosecutes particular atrocities, and only those committed by Africans. The idea seems to be that African war makers should get civilized and learn to melt the skin off children and radiate neighborhoods and burn down houses the way the enlightened war makers do. The ICC is years away from possibly prosecuting the crime of making war, and then only for nations that have chosen to subject themselves to its authority, only in cases approved of by the permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, and only in cases of aggressive war (as if there were some other kind).

Since 1976, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights has made war propaganda illegal. The argument that our First-Amendment right to freedom of the press and of speech overrides this is severely weakened, I think, by the fact that our major media outlets routinely shut out the viewpoints of the vast majority of us, to the point where people holding majority opinions on most political questions can be expected to believe they are part of a small minority. If we had freedom of the press we would have the ability to effectively counter war propaganda. As it is, we largely lack that freedom, and war propaganda is so pervasive we barely recognize it. …more

Kuwait opposition rallies outside Parliament
12 November, 2012 – Al Akhbar

A leading Kuwaiti opposition figure on Monday asked a court to allow him to travel for medical treatment ahead of his trial this week for “insulting” the emir, as tens of thousands continue to demonstrate against changes to the country’s voting law.

The request came during the first hearing in former Islamist MP Musallam al-Barrak’s trial where he faces charges of making public remarks deemed offensive to the Gulf state’s ruler, who under Kuwaiti law cannot be criticized.

If convicted, he faces a jail sentence of up to five years.

A mix of Islamist supporters, lawmakers, tribal groups and youth activists packed a square across from Kuwait’s parliament on Sunday in a peaceful rally against a new amendment to the elections law which favors pro-government candidates.

The demonstration also coincided with the 50th anniversary of Kuwait’s constitution.

It was the first in a series of recent protests against the voting amendment to take place without incident.

Last week, police locked down Kuwait City to prevent a massive rally from taking place, but demonstrators reassembled on the outskirts of the city where riot police attacked them with tear gas and sound grenades.

Dozens have been injured in other anti-government demonstrations, since the emir of Kuwait, Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah, dissolved parliament on October 1 and proposed changing the voting rules.

Previously, registered Kuwaiti voters could select up to four MPs for each voting district, but the decree changed the elections process into a one non-transferable vote per voter.

The opposition, a loose coalition of Islamists, tribal factions, and various youth groups, have vowed to boycott the December 1 Parliamentary elections unless the government reverses its changes to the law.

Aside from Barrak, five other opposition MPs have been arrested on similar charges.

Falah al-Sawwagh, Khaled al-Tahus and Bader al-Dahum are to appear in court on Tuesday for allegedly insulting the emir. A fifth former lawmaker is to appear in court on November 26 while a sixth ex-MP is facing similar charges but no date has been set for his trial.

The al-Sabah family has ruled Kuwait for over 250 years. The emir, crown prince, prime minister and key cabinet ministers all hail from the ruling family. …source

Bahrain crackdown: West talks, Paramilitary forces walk
12 November, 2012 – Bahrain Freedom Movement

The head of Bahrain’s main opposition group says envoys from Western states are in discussions with the Gulf island’s rulers to end the conflict there. Meanwhile, paramilitary forces have been deployed to quash 21 months of local political unrest.

Sheik Ali Salman told the Associated Press the talks are unlikely to bear fruit, as increasingly radicalized protesters are acting independently of the organized opposition, including his Al Wefaq group.

Following a string of firebomb attacks and clashes, Bahrain’s paramilitary National Guard – which acts independent of the country’s regular military forces – was deployed to “strategic locations” on Saturday.

Guard troops were reportedly setting up in Sitra – dubbed the “Capital of the Revolution” by the opposition – Hadi al-Musawi, a spokesman for Al Wefaq said. The guard forces had previously only been used in specific locations, like the capital, Manama.

Intense fighting between protesters and security forces broke out on Saturday as mourners headed to the funeral of a teenager who was killed the day before.

The opposition says the boy was hit by a car after being chased onto a highway by police, though the authorities deny having any part in his death.

Violence erupted on Saturday after the government set up checkpoints and military roadblocks to prevent mourners from reaching the funeral for Ali Radhi. Similar security measures prevented people from attending Friday prayer, leading to the chaos that allegedly resulted in Rahdi’s death.

Over 55 people have died and hundreds have been arrested amidst 21 months of unrest in the strategically vital country, which is home to the US Navy’s 5th fleet.

Increasingly draconian measures have been implemented as the Sunni-ruled kingdom has attempted to quash dissent amongst its Shiite majority, which has been demanding sweeping political reforms.

On Wednesday the government revoked the citizenship of 31 activists, claiming they presented threats to state security, the interior ministry said. The announcement coincided with the arrests of four prominent opposition activists implicated in aseries of bomb blasts that ripped through the capital on Monday, killing two.

In late October, Bahraini authorities indefinitely banned all protest gatherings and rallies. …source

The Western-backed Bahraini monarchy has been facing continuous street protests… since February 2011 calling for an elected government to replace decades of misrule and corruption under one family. While the self-styled royal rulers and their hangers-on live in absolute luxury -– never having worked a day in their pampered lives -– the majority of Bahrainis live in poverty and under constant harassment from regime goons and death squads hired from neighbouring Sunni countries, such as Yemen and Pakistan.”

Bahrain uprising threatens US hegemony
12 November, 2012 – By Finian Cunningham – PressTV

Connecting the dots of recent dramatic events in Bahrain spells one unmistakable message — the US-backed Al Khalifa regime is on the political ropes. It is desperately trying to defeat a determined pro-democracy movement that just won’t lie down or go away.

The regime is fighting for its very survival under unrelenting pressure from the mainly Shia population, who won’t back down in their demand for human dignity and freedom, no matter how much they are brutalized and terrorized.

But it’s not just the survival of the Khalifa regime that is at stake. It’s the entire US-backed order of Arab monarchies which has been in place for over six decades, and which is now showing cracks in the dam. This order has historically guaranteed the West a reliable source of oil; and more recently it is crucial to shoring up the bankrupt petrodollar system that Anglo-American global capitalism depends on.

Moreover, the Persian Gulf Arab dictatorships are a lucrative destination for the American and British weapons industries. The latter vital interest was underscored last week by the visit of British prime minister to the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia — whose sole mission was to sell $9 billion-worth of fighter jets to these regimes. The Pentagon is also planning to sell Saudi Arabia $6.7 billion-worth of military transport planes, on top of the $60 billion deal signed off last year. In an age of debt-ridden American and British capitalism, the Arab dictators are vital sources of cash.

This crucial geo-strategic backdrop to Bahrain explains the escalating repression in the tiny island kingdom against civilian protesters, with a blanket ban invoked by the regime on all public demonstrations. Bloggers and organisers caught or suspected of agitating on social media have been dealt with instant imprisonment.

Then last week saw the rulers making the extraordinary Orwellian move of deleting the nationality status of 31 Bahraini pro-democracy leaders — a move that has shocked human rights observers and which contravenes the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Imagine a government making its own citizens “non-nationals.” How sinister is that?

Those draconian moves followed on the heels of suspicious explosions in the capital, Manama, and earlier last month in the village of Eker, which claimed the lives of two Indian workers and a policeman, respectively.

This theatre of dirty tricks and playing to the gallery with lurid accusations of foreign subversion is, to be sure, aimed at justifying the unjustifiable — the use of state terrorism and repression against civilians who are simply demanding basic democratic rights. However, what the latest draconian moves by the Khalifa dictatorship tells us is that the regime and its powerful backers are coming under acute pressure for political survival.

The Western-backed Bahraini monarchy has been facing continuous street protests over the past 21 months — since February 2011 — calling for an elected government to replace decades of misrule and corruption under one family. While the self-styled royal rulers and their hangers-on live in absolute luxury — never having worked a day in their pampered lives — the majority of Bahrainis live in poverty and under constant harassment from regime goons and death squads hired from neighbouring Sunni countries, such as Yemen and Pakistan.

Bahrain’s mainly Shia population wants the Al Khalifa regime, headed by King Hamad, to be abolished — and quite rightly so. The regime is seen as an imposter, originally from the Arabian Peninsula, which was installed by the British Empire to rule over Bahrainis in order to make the territory and Persian Gulf waterway safe for Britain’s geopolitical interests. This function of the Khalifa as a foreign proxy still persists for American and British interests.

Over the past two years, largely peaceful demonstrations have been held nearly on a daily basis across the oil-rich Persian Gulf island, despite a brutal crackdown by regime forces that has caused some 100 deaths since the uprising.

Two factors underpin the Al Khalifa’s shaky hold on power. First, massive support from neighbouring Persian Gulf monarchies led primarily by Saudi Arabia. These unelected Sunni kings and emirs have bankrolled their smaller neighbour since protests have taken a heavy toll on the economy and investor confidence. Saudi Arabia — the world’s biggest oil exporter — has also sent troops into Bahrain, which have greatly intensified the repression against the Bahraini population and shored up the Khalifa regime with a reign of terror.

Secondly, Bahrain’s monarchy has been able to rely on unwavering diplomatic and military support from the United States and British governments. Apart from the occasional muted words of concern about human rights, Washington and London’s repeated salutations of “key ally” and flow of weapon sales have, in effect, told the Bahraini and Saudi regimes that they have a green light to crush the popular revolt by whatever means necessary. The unquestioned stationing of the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet in Bahrain is perhaps the clearest signal from Washington that its patronage to the Khalifa regime is rock solid.

Also the dearth of reportage in the Western media on state violence in Bahrain not only reflects the commitment of Washington and London to the Bahraini regime, but the lack of media coverage has served to stymie Western public disquiet over what are ongoing crimes against humanity by Western-backed regimes.
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Bahrain opposition leader: Hopes fading for talks
12 November, 2102 – Bahrina Freedom Freedom

MANAMA, Bahrain (AP) — Envoys from the U.S. and other countries are acting as intermediaries with the Gulf nation’s rulers in attempts to ease 21 months of unrest, the head of Bahrain’s main opposition group said Sunday.

Even so, he said protest groups see little hope for breakthrough dialogue as crackdowns widen.

The remarks by Sheik Ali Salman, head of the top Shiite political bloc Al Wefaq, underscore the sense of a deepening crisis in strategic Bahrain after a week that included deadly bomb blasts and an expanded deployment by the paramilitary National Guard.

On Sunday, clashes erupted after the funeral of a teenage boy killed on Friday. Opposition groups claim he was hit by a car while fleeing a security clampdown, but Bahraini officials say the death resulted from a traffic accident.

More than 55 people have been killed in Bahrain’s unrest since February 2011 after an Arab Spring-inspired uprising by the country’s majority Shiites to weaken the influence of the Sunni monarchy and seek a greater say in the nation’s affairs. The showdown also has placed Washington in an increasingly difficult policy bind.

The U.S. does not want to jeopardize its relations with the leadership in Bahrain, which hosts the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet as the Pentagon’s main counterbalance to Iran’s military expansion in the Gulf. But Washington is growing uneasy with the harsh measures against Bahrain’s opposition, including a ban on protest rallies imposed late last month.

Salman told The Associated Press that American envoys and others are serving as “indirect mediators through meetings with the opposition and the (government) authorities … These communications are efforts to end the crisis.”

But Salman said there are fading hopes for dialogue to resolve the crisis because of the escalating crackdowns and convictions of opposition figures, including some sentenced to life in prison.

“Things are getting worse … After 21 months, we did not see any preparations or serious initiatives to enter into dialogue with the opposition,” Salman said in an interview.

Bahrain’s leaders say they are ready to talk and have already adopted some reform steps, such as giving more oversight powers to the elected parliament. Opposition leaders, including Salman, insist the concessions are not enough, demanding that the ruling dynasty give up its control of key government posts and policies.

The rising violence also has overshadowed efforts for talks.

Government authorities claim escalating attacks — including arson, firebombs and homemade explosives — forced the decision to outlaw protest gatherings and to expand patrols by the National Guard. Last Monday, two South Asian workers, an Indian and Bangladeshi, were killed in a series of blasts the government described as “domestic terrorism.”

The main Shiite opposition groups issued a joint statement renouncing violence after the blasts. But Salman acknowledged that they cannot control breakaway protest factions that have confronted riot police with firebombs. Government officials also blame protesters for homemade bombs that have killed civilians and police.

“We don’t agree with them, but can’t stop them because they’re not listening,” said Salman. “This is happening because of a lack of freedom.”

Salman urged for greater international efforts to “stop the bleeding in Bahrain.”

“We welcome and will cooperate with any mediator: American, European, regional. It doesn’t matter,” he said. “We need to solve the issue in Bahrain.” …source