Sunday, December 30, 2012

Judgment begins: Dutch govt declares Iraq war unlawful in first "Emperor has no clothes" report

http://www.examiner.com/article/judgment-begins-dutch-govt-declares-iraq-war-unlawful-first-emperor-has-no-clothes-report          

Judgment begins: Dutch govt declares Iraq war unlawful in first "Emperor has no clothes" report



   We hold these Truths to be self-evident...
You’ll be so embarrassed in the near future if you have to admit you never learned the laws of war to add your self-expression to this “Emperor has no clothes” historical judgment of early 21st Century US history.
Imagine telling your children and grandchildren, “Nope. I just believed George Bush and then Obama. I didn’t think dying people in the Middle East worth my time to understand the issue clearly. That’s all the love I had in my heart, all the responsibility I carried for my citizenry, all the attention I had outside my little self.”
Ending mass-murder is something you want to do as soon as humanly possible.
Like now.
The government of the Netherlands commissioned a study to answer the question of legality of the US-led armed attack of Iraq (here, here, here). Their conclusion is unanimous among their panel of legal experts: there is no legal justification; the war is unlawful.
  
When an unlawful war has been proved, members of our military and government must immediately refuse and stop all orders associated with an unlawful war. Arrest and prosecution must follow.
Policy response: Gandhi and Martin Luther King advocated public understanding of the facts and non-cooperation with evil. I’m among hundreds who advocate:
  1. Understand the laws of war. These were legislated after WW2 and are crystal-clear that only self-defense, in a narrow legal meaning, can justify war. This investment of your time takes less than an hour and empowers you to legally stand for ending these unlawful US Wars of Aggression.
  2. Communicate. Trust your unique, beautiful, and powerful self-expression to share powerful information as you feel appropriate. Understand that while many people are ready to embrace difficult facts, many are not. Anticipate your virtuous response to being attacked and give it in the spirit of competition, just as you do in other fields.
  3. Refuse and end all orders and acts associated with these unlawful wars and constant violation of treaties. Those involved with US military, government, and law enforcement have an oath to protect and defend the US Constitution. Unlawful acts only move forward with sufficient cooperation and public tolerance. Stop cooperating with the most vicious crime a nation can commit: war.
  4. Support global security through cooperation, dignity, justice, and freedom. End poverty through global cooperation to achieve the UN Millennium Goals by developed countries investing 0.7% of their income. End extremism by providing all humanity with an opportunity to live a life of peaceful creativity. Create a US Department of Peace to help.
  5. Prosecute the war leaders for obvious violation of the letter and spirit of US war laws. You can only understand how these wars are specifically unlawful by investing the time to do so. Because the crimes are so broad and deep, I recommend Truth and Reconciliation (T&R) to exchange full truth and return of stolen US assets for non-prosecution. This is the most expeditious way to understand and end all unlawful and harmful acts. Those who reject T&R either by volunteering their name and/or responding when named are subject to prosecution after the window of T&R closes.
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I include the PuppetGov 6-minute video, "How to create an angry American" (caution, strong language at the end).
Comments policy: I welcome questions and comments that are civil and pertain to the article topic. Impolite and impertinent comments will be deleted.
Please also consider that I’m among hundreds of writers who have documented our own government’s disclosure of propaganda programs to support their wars. I suspect my articles are under such propagandistic attack from comments that use typical rhetorical fallacies to distract readers from the facts. I invite readers to sharpen their ability to discern such propaganda. They are characterized by a combination of: never addressing the facts, diverting attention through unsubstantiated belief in an alleged expert, irrelevant data, straw-man attack that distorts the facts, ad hominem attack of insults to the messenger, and lies of omission and commission.
I will use such comments to point-out the propaganda or delete them at my discretion. Again, all relevant and polite questions and factually accurate comments are welcome. As a professional educator I’m in agreement with my experience and research: we learn best from multiple perspectives in mutual commitment to understand the facts, see those facts from diverse points-of-view, and consider various policy proposals of what we should do.

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