Perle Admits that Invasion of Iraq was Illegal

According to a report from the UK Guardian (republished on Common Dreams) Richard Perle admitted yesterday that the U.S. invasion of Iraq was in violation of international law. Despite the fact that the Bush administration has consistently argued that the U.S. was legally justified in attacking Iraq due to the supposed "imminent threat" posed to the US by Iraq, or Iraq's failure to comply with UN resolutions, Pearle is quoted as saying, "international law ... would have required us to leave Saddam Hussein alone."

Pearle still maintains that invading was the right thing to do, but an admission of the illegality of Bush's war by one of the administration's most outspoken hawks is still pretty amazing. Yet it does not seem to have been reported in any mainstream American news sources as of this time. Take a look.

The sad thing is that in their view of the world - that it is OK.

They don't realize things are illegal for a reason - and/or that they are above and beyond the law.


I guess it's like rich people who think they should be able to buy their way out of being prosecuted for speeding, drunk driving, money laundering, embezzelment, rape, child molesting, murder.....

If it's illegal but justified due to 'imminent threat', but it's later proven the 'imminent threat' was a lie, then it was a war crime.

huh? the invasion violated international law, but it was the right thing to do? me so confused!

I think the fact that I could not find a single message about this in the American press is almost as outrageous as the story itself.

:eyes:

And of course the Guardian, but I Googled and then searched the NYT, CNN, Fox, Wash Post, etc. and found zilch. Of course, that was a couple hours ago, maybe I should check again.

And now the story is on Infoshop and Khilafah.com

Still no major US press sources.

Question 1: Why the hell does Perle keep saying this shit? You'd think he would keep his mouth shut instead of saying things like "the WMD was just an excuse we used to invade" or "the war was illegal."

Question 2: Since Perle is apparently too stupid to keep his mouth shut, WHY THE FUCK DOESN'T THE PRESS LEAP ALL OVER THIS SHIT?! They ought to be playing this up 24/7: "Bush admin. official says war was 'illegal'". That headline would sell papers AND would serve as responsible journalism for a change.

God damn, the American press' self-censorship pisses me off. People fought in revolutions to get "freedom of the press", only to piss it all away in the name of...what? Profits?

Let's hope this is the beginning of dissent from the inside. One can hope. Remember it was his own that brought Richard Nixon down.

Is that while Perle's statement questions the legality of the invasion, it does not question the ethics. And it's an ethical condemnation of the invasion that is needed to really bring about regime change in the US.

and Straussians know they are the elite, and entitled to tell the noble lie because they're convinced this is the right thing to do and they are the wise few, the elite, who are leading the stupid masses, and the stupid masses aren't going to agree to sacrifice their lives for nothing Ð for the glory of the nation Ð unless their own survival is at stake. So, of course, you tell them their own survival is at stake. Simple.

www.adbusters.org/magazine/49/articles/leo_strauss/noflash.html

Watch for the next big lie. Iran? Syria?

I was always taught that was wrong.

Goodness, my folks must have been evil, antisocial types.

I'm glad our leaders are making decisions based on what is "right" and "wrong" instead of what is "legal" and "illegal".

*sshole.

Well, I mean, I *do* want our leaders to take ethics into account as well as legality. If laws are unethical, shouldn't they be changed?
But I don't think the Bushies aren't doing either one. I think they're looking first and foremost at their own power and profits.

Of COURSE it was illegal. Of COURSE it had nothing to do with Iraqi freedom. Of COURSE it had no relation to "weapons of mass destruction." Over and over and over again, we hear this. Why won't the American people wake up? It was there all along on the website of the Project for a New American Century - nation building, power, control the oil and the Middle East. Sean will make no mention of this. A slip-up by Perle - and possibility an unfortunate "accident" awaiting him, per Dick Cheney. Or not, because the media won't cover it.

eom

No need for the American press or media to look too closely at it. Dincha hear that Michael Jackson is gonna get arrested? Far more interesting than the reasons underlying why so many people are dying way over in Iraq!

If Michael Jackson died in combat in Iraq, would the corporate press want to cover it or no?

The Constitution gives equal weight to international law - the president MUST at all times abide by it or it is considered lawbreaking!