Mar. 24, 2013
NewsRescue– 10 years on, the west is parading all these news stories detailing how the Iraq war was an error and illegitimate. There are articles on CNN asking for Bush and Blair to be tried. Articles in Guardian making heroes of the millions who protested against the war 10 years ago and articles in huffingtonpost at last recognizing GOP senators like Dr. Ron Paul who against all odds, opposed the invasion. Some clips are below:
Why Bush, Blair should be charged with war crimes over Iraq invasion – CNN
March 24, 2013
Editor’s note: Ten years ago the war in Iraq began. This week we focus on the people involved in the war, and the lives that changed forever. Michael Mansfield led the Legal Action Against War protest group in 2003. He is the author of “Memoirs of a Radical Lawyer.”
(CNN) — Ten years ago I was one of a small number of UK lawyers who opposed the invasion of Iraq on the grounds that it was illegal and unauthorised by the United Nations. We were all strong advocates of the notion that the rule of law was the bedrock of any civilised and democratic society. Without it our lives would be subject to a free for all in which might becomes right.
The embodiment of the rule of law internationally has been the U.N. Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights — direct results of the devastation inflicted by the Nazi regime in Germany during the Second World War. No one wanted a repeat of such flagrant aggression, so the Charter was drawn up to replace gunboat diplomacy with peaceful measures overseen by the U.N. Security Council. Read more
Did you protest against the Iraq invasion?– Guardian
‘Up to 2 million people marched in London that day and the importance of this event, both globally and locally, should not be underestimated.’ Photograph: Rex FeaturesToday marks the 10th anniversary of the largest day of global protest in history. On 15 February 2003 up to 30 million people marched in protest against the planned invasion of Iraq. In London alone, organisers estimated over one million people descended on Hyde Park to register their opposition to the imminent invasion, making it the largest protest in UK history. Mo Mowlam, Tariq Ali, Tony Benn and Vanessa Redgrave were among the high-profile marchers to take part in the London event, with Rev Jesse Jackson leading the crowd in chanting: “Give peace a chance, keep hope alive.”
GOP Lawmakers Who Voted Against Iraq War Stand Their Ground 10 Years Later -huffingtonpost
WASHINGTON — When Congress voted to authorize the Iraq War in October 2002, only seven Republicans voted against it — and they took heat for bucking their party. Looking back now, on the 10-year anniversary of the invasion, many of those Republicans maintained they were right all along and fear that the war wasn’t worth the costs, both financially and in human lives.
In interviews with The Huffington Post, five of those seven Republicans explained why they broke ranks and opposed the war resolution, which authorized President George W. Bush to “use any means necessary” against Iraq. Two of those Republicans — Rep. John Duncan (Tenn.) and former Rep. John Hostettler (Ind.) — did not respond to interview requests.
“To me, it was about growing up in the Vietnam era and not wanting to go through that again,” said Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee, who, in 2002, was the only GOP senator to vote against invading Iraq. “I remember the difficulty the soldiers had coming back here after Vietnam. They had the same issues: PTSD, re-immersion, alcoholism. You have to be prepared to take all that on.”
Chafee also didn’t believe CIA officials who showed him photos of metal tubes in Iraq and said they were being used to make weapons of mass destruction. He recalled thinking those tubes could have been purchased at a local hardware store and used for a multitude of things.
“More than anything, it was the body language of the CIA that told me it wasn’t true,” he said.
“There was no threat to our national security, and also the arguments that they were using [for] why we had to go in, I didn’t believe them,” said former Rep. Ron Paul (Texas), one of the six House Republicans who opposed the war. “I could see where it was going to cost us a lot of money, and I kept saying this even before — it’s going to cost us a lot of money, a lot of lives. It’s going to go on a long time.”Read more…
But the question with all this is, and so what?
Iraq was recognized as one of the biggest blunders and violations in recent times and has been used as a blueprint in strategizing invasions. But to what gain?
We all tolerated the happening again with the ousting of Gaddafi. And we all bear the spill out of that action, with the terror spill out affecting all North and west Africa, culminating in Amb. Stevens death and the Mali invasion.
We are all watching again as terrorists who go as far as kidnapping UN workers, are supported to create the greatest turbulence known to man in the Middle East, in the Syria foreign propelled rebellion.
And we are watching as the so-called “red-line,” is drawn and re-drawn, and as Netanyahu’s hand itches on the trigger and youthful Obama redaies to have his name and brand on the major wars in the worlds history. So, the question is, so what?
