[Peace] Fwd:[ANSWER]: WHY BUSH'S PREEMPTIVE WAR IS ILLEGA (1 of 3)

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GEORGE BUSH PLANS HIGH CRIMES AND MISDEMEANORS: Why We Are Marching on October 26th

By Carl Messineo and Mara Verheyden-Hilliard

[The authors, attorneys and co-founders of the Partnership  for Civil Justice - LDEF, are members of the national 
steering committee of the A.N.S.W.E.R. (Act Now to Stop  War & End Racism) Coalition.]

George W. Bush has declared his intention to wage a 
'preemptive' war against Iraq and is now seeking to 
strong-arm the international community, the U.N., and the  Congress into support and submission. As members of 
Congress rush to show their obedience and member states of  the U.N. line up to receive the anticipated spoils of war, 
the administration is now waging a campaign to convince  the people of the United States to fall into step and 
finance with money and blood this war brought for conquest  on behalf of the corporate and oil interests that make up  Bush's true constituency. 

Bush's preemptive war is a war of aggression. The U.S.  policy supporting the war is not the rule of law, but the 
rule of force.

But no U.N. resolution and no Congressional resolution can  legalize an illegal war. With pen to paper and votes of 
support, they can only commit to wilful ratification, 
complicity and responsibility for illegal acts by 
endorsing a criminal enterprise.

A war of aggression violates the United States 
Constitution, the United Nations Charter, and the 
principles of the Nuremberg Tribunal. It violates the 
collective law of humanity that recognizes the 
immeasurable harm and unconscionable human suffering when  a country engages in wars of aggression to advance its  government's perceived national interests.

THE NATIONAL SECURITY STRATEGY:
BLUEPRINT FOR GLOBAL EMPIRE

On September 20, 2002, the Bush Administration issued its  blueprint for global domination and ceaseless military 
interventions, in its comprehensive policy statement 
entitled "The National Security Strategy of the United 
States."

The National Security Strategy sets forth the U.S. 
military-industrial complex's ambition for the U.S. to 
remain the world's superpower with global political, 
economic and military dominance. The stated policy of the  U.S. is "dissuading military competition" (See source I) 
and preventing any other world entity or union of states  "from pursuing a military build-up in hopes of surpassing,  or equaling, the power of the United States." (See source  II)

The strategic plan elevates free trade and free markets to  be "a moral principle . . . real freedom" (See source III) 
and endorses a comprehensive global conquest strategy  utilizing the World Trade Organization, the Free Trade Act  of the Americas, the International Monetary Fund, the 
World Bank, among other mechanisms.

The Washington Post reports that the National Security  Strategy gives the United States "a nearly messianic role"  in its quest for global dominance. (See source IV)

The National Security Strategy confirms and elaborates  what was reflected in the January 2002 Nuclear Posture  Review, that the Bush Administration maintains a policy of  preemptive warfare contemplating the use of 
non-conventional weapons of mass destruction as a first  strike measure. (See source V)

TURNING LOGIC ON ITS HEAD

Bush's preemptive war policy is a war without just cause.  Under international law and centuries of common legal 
usage, a preemptive war may be justified as an act of self  defense only where there exists a genuine and imminent  threat of physical attack.

Bush's preemptive war against Iraq doesn't even purport to  preempt a physical attack. It purports to preempt a threat  that is neither issued n