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The Supreme International Crime: How the U.S. War in Iraq Threatens the Rule of Law

U.S. leaders have, at various times, claimed three different justifications for the 2003 invasion and subsequent occupation of Iraq: a self-defense right under United Nations Charter Article 51, legal authorization under preexisting U.N. resolutions relative to Iraqi disarmament, and the need for humanitarian intervention to protect Iraqi citizens from the Baathist government of Saddam Hussein. In this article, the authors demonstrate that there is no evidence to support any of these claims under international law and that the United States and its allies have routinely been guilty of violations of international humanitarian law in their conduct of the occupation of Iraq. They conclude with an appeal for a return to a law-governed approach to international relations by the United States and other world powers.

war, Iraq, international law, humanitarian law, war crimes, empire, imperialism

Citation: Social Justice Vol. 32, No. 2 (2005): 52-81.