Invasion of Iraq was wrong on principle

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July 11, 2004

Invasion of Iraq was wrong on principle

By Ibrahim Gassama
For The Register-Guard
  

A terrible myth is developing to explain the failure of the Iraq occupation. According to this myth, the mess in Iraq has been largely a failure of implementation on the part of the Bush administration.

Various examples have been offered to illustrate the administration's gross incompetence: It did not deploy enough American troops; the coalition of the willing was not broad or deep enough; the Iraqi army was disbanded without adequate consideration of security needs; electric power was not restored fast enough; a jobs program to employ Iraqis was not put in place; and so on and so forth.
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Legally, the administration has undermined a set of standards of state behavior laboriously crafted over a period of about 100 years by the international community: War as an instrument of national policy is illegal; it is criminal to plan and wage aggressive wars; outside of self-defense, no nation may resort to war without collective approval represented by the United Nations Security Council.

These fundamental principles were affirmed by international war crimes tribunals after World War II.
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Ibrahim Gassama is an associate professor at the University of Oregon Law School. His specialty is international law. This column is adapted from a speech he delivered to a rally in Eugene on June 19, organized by Progressive Responses.

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