CYIL Vol. 4, 2013

THE ATTITUDE OF THE UNITED STATES TOWARD INTERNATIONAL LAW Afghanistan without authorization from the Security Council. Bush later informed the United Nations Secretary General that the United States had invoked its right of self-defense under Article 51 of the Charter. 93 Bush captured Taliban fighters and suspected terrorists and detained them indefinitely without charge or trial. Some of these detainees were outsourced to third countries under a policy of extraordinary rendition, where they were tortured in ghost prisons. Many detainees were also flown to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where some are still being held without charge or trial. Bush refused to recognize the rights of these detainees under the human rights norms or international humanitarian law. 94 In 2003 President Bush invaded Iraq without authorization from the Security Council. 95 This was a clear case of aggression, as the invasion was unprovoked. The Bush administration decided to act unilaterally after it failed to secure the necessary votes in the Security Council to authorize the use of force against Iraq. Many states were skeptical of the U.S.’s true intentions. Iraq was cooperating with United Nations inspectors, and there was every indication that Saddam Hussein did not have the weapons Bush proclaimed him to possess. Bush justified the U.S. invasion of Iraq under Security Council Resolution 1441 (2003), and previous Security Council resolutions. However, Resolution 1441 did not explicitly authoriz military measures against Iraq but simply warned Iraq of “serious consequences” if Iraq failed to implement all Security Council resolutions. 96 Bush’s pretext for invading Iraq was based on false intelligence that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, and the fear these weapons may fall in the hands of terrorists. That argument was flawed and could not be supported by the evidence. Bush subsequently sought Security Council authorization to occupy Iraq. However, Resolution 1483 (2003) did not legitimize the United States’ invasion of Iraq post facto. The resolution recognized the U.S. and the U.K. as occupying powers under a unified command and called on them to comply with their obligations under the Fourth Geneva Conventions of 1949. 97 The U.S. invasion of Iraq violated both the United Nations Charter and the Geneva Conventions. The conduct of the war was inconsistent with international human rights norms and international humanitarian law. Both the occupation of Iraq and the detention of large numbers of Iraqis who opposed the war were illegal under Geneva Convention IV. The decrees adopted by the Coalition Provisional Administration (CPA) did not comply with various provisions of the Geneva Conventions. United States forces killed thousands of innocent civilians during 93 Letter from Ambassador John Negroponte, Permanent Representative of the USA to the UN, to the President of the Security Council, S/2001/946, October 7, 2001. 94 William A. Fletcher, International Human Rights and the Role of the United States, 104 Nw.U.L.Rev. 293, 306 (2010). 95 Bush Address to the Nation on the Commencement of War with Iraq, at http://www.guardian.co.uk/ world/2003/mar/20/iraq.georgebush. 96 S.C. Res. 1441 (2003). 97 S.C. Res. 1483 (2003), Preamble; See David Scheffer, The Security Council and International Law on Military Occupations, p. 599 , in Lowe, et al. , eds., The United Nations Security Council and War (2010).