The Invasion of Iraq, contra its many critics, was both a just and legal conflict.
So called Just War theories for waging legitimate warfare have been put forth by a succession of political and ethical philosophers from antiquity down to the present day (Cicero and Augustine are two oft cited founders, from the classical and Christian traditions respectively). In its survey of Just War literature, the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy states: “The just causes most frequently mentioned include: self-defense from external attack; the defense of others from such; the protection of innocents from brutal, aggressive regimes; and punishment for a grievous wrongdoing which remains uncorrected.”
By these criteria, the history of the 1990’s gives ample testimony to the justice of removing Saddam from power. In January, 1991, the United States led an international coalition to expel Saddam from Kuwait, a country he had invaded the previous August. The Kuwaitis had suffered greatly the depredations of Iraqi forces: rape, murder, looting, the intentional destruction of Kuwait’s oil infrastructure. This phase of the conflict surely qualifies as just war under “defense of others” from external attack.
After the war, Saddam proceeded to brutalize the peoples of Iraq who had used his humiliation as impetus to rebel. One example of his retaliation: in the south, he drained the ancient swamps of the “Marsh Arabs,” robbing these people of their homes and livelihood. To protect persecuted Kurds and Shiites, the U.S. and its allies instituted “no-fly” zones, providing cover for humanitarian assistance to reach these peoples. Surely these no-fly zones, though an act of war, protected “innocents” from a “brutal, aggressive” regime.
In subsequent years, however, the regime in Baghdad tried repeatedly to kill American pilots enforcing the no-fly zones. At one point Saddam even offered a $14,000 bounty for every downed American plane, making any further action against him a matter of “self defense.”
And of course, a fact which no one mentions any more but which alone would have justified Saddam’s removal: in April 1993, an attempt was made on the life of former president George H.W. Bush while he was visiting Kuwait. Both Kuwaiti and U.S. law enforcement agencies concluded that the plot was of Iraqi origin and likely directed by Saddam Hussein himself. In June 1993 President Bill Clinton launched retaliatory cruise missile strikes – a craven reaction to a plot to assassinate a former president. Surely the removal of Saddam any time thereafter was a justified and long overdo “punishment for a grievous wrongdoing.”
Of course, many more examples could be cited. On the protection of innocents clause alone, the removal of Saddam was justified by his genocidal actions towards his own people: the “Anfa;” (spoils) operations in the late 1980’s, for instance, when entire Kurdish villages were gassed and thousands perished.
On the question of legality there are two courses for discussion: domestic and international law. Domestically, the Constitution grants Congress the sole legal authority to make war. In a 2002 Joint Resolution, Congress did just that by giving the president full authority to use the armed forces of the United States to ensure Saddam’s compliance with the U.N. resolutions which he had been flagrantly violating for years.
Which leads us to International Law. Saddam had so thoroughly made a mockery of United Nations agreements and resolutions, so completely thwarted the will of the international community, that resumption of the Gulf War hostilities was more than legal – it was necessary.
To be clear. The recent and successful provincial elections prove that the Iraqi people are both capable and inclined to govern themselves. Democracy may yet take hold between the Two Rivers. But even if it doesn’t, the removal of Saddam Hussein was a just and legal act.
Matt Patterson’s commentary has appeared in the Washington Examiner, the Baltimore Sun, and Townhall. He is the author of “Union of Hearts: The Abraham Lincoln & Ann Rutledge Story.” His email is mpatterson.column@gmail.com.
Stanford Quote Source:
http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/war/
