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Source: http://the-rule-of-law.com/ 24 Mar 2003

Law Professors For the Rule of Law
P. O. Box 19527
Stanford, California 94309
lawprofs@the-rule-of-law.com

". . . to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, and to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights . . . in the equal rights of men and women and of nations large and small, and to establish conditions under which justice and respect for the obligations arising from international law can be maintained" -- Preamble to the Charter of the United Nations

Law Professors' Statement Challenging US War Plans [ http://the-rule-of-law.com/IraqStatement or local copy further down ]

317 teachers of law from 87 law schools around the country have denounced the Bush administration's plans for war with Iraq, explaining that a US war against a country that has not attacked the United States would itself be an unlawful act, in defiance of America's treaty obligations, and in violation of US and international law. Read the full statement. [ http://the-rule-of-law.com/IraqStatement or local copy further down ]

"The international rule of law is not a soft luxury to be discarded whenever leaders find it convenient or popular to resort to savage violence. The international rule of law is a bulwark against the horrors of warfare that we Americans have so recently felt first-hand."

"Lawless international violence only breeds more killing of innocent people. Massive civilian deaths can only spawn new generations of embittered peoples, new hate-filled leaders, new enraged individuals, determined to answer violence with violence. The American people are not made safer by the unilateral use of force, we are further endangered, for lawless violence generates recruits for terrorism."

A US War Against Iraq Will Violate US and International Law and Set a Dangerous Precedent For Violence That Will Endanger the American People

Local copy of the full statement:

http://the-rule-of-law.com/IraqStatement/ 12 Nov 2002

Law Professors' Statement Challenging US War Plans

A US War Against Iraq Will Violate US and International Law and Set a Dangerous Precedent For Violence That Will Endanger the American People

President Bush maintains that Iraq's "decade of defiance" of United Nations resolutions justifies a war against Iraq. But the President ignores the fact that a US war, unleashed without the approval of the UN Security Council, against a country that has not attacked the United States, would itself be an unlawful act, in defiance of America's treaty obligations, and a violation of US and international law.

Our Constitution provides that treaties signed by the President and ratified by the Senate are part of the "supreme Law of the Land." The United Nations Charter, which our nation wrote in large part, and signed and ratified as a treaty in 1945, provides that -- except in response to an armed attack -- nations may neither threaten nor engage in warfare without the authorization of the UN Security Council. President Bush swore to uphold and defend the Constitution. Yet he advocates a right to ignore our treaty obligations and to visit the scourge of war upon Iraq, with or without the approval of the United Nations.

The dangerous path America is treading will only lead to more suffering by Americans, as well as by others. The international rule of law is not a soft luxury to be discarded whenever leaders find it convenient or popular to resort to savage violence. The international rule of law is a bulwark against the horrors of warfare that we Americans have so recently felt first-hand.

*   Every nation that has ever committed aggression against another claimed to be "defending" itself. The United States helped establish the United Nations precisely in order to impose the rule of law on such claims, to make it unlawful for nations to strike against others unless they were themselves under armed attack. The United States is not under armed attack by Iraq.

*   Lawless international violence only breeds more killing of innocent people. The massive civilian deaths, the scarred and maimed children, the ruined and starving peoples, whose suffering is inseparable from warfare, can only spawn new generations of embittered peoples, new hate-filled leaders, new enraged individuals, determined to answer violence with violence.

*   The American people are not made safer by the unilateral use of force, in violation of the "supreme Law of the Land" and the United Nations Charter. We are further endangered. Lawless violence generates recruits for terrorism.

We, teachers of law at American law schools, protest the Bush administration's illegal plan to conduct a war against Iraq. We call upon our government to step back from the brink of war and allow the United Nations to resolve the crisis peacefully, patiently, and lawfully.

If you teach law at an American law school and would like to be listed as a signer, please write to us at lawprofs@the-rule-of-law.com . Please include the full name of your university and/or law school.

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Updated 5 December 2003