Editor's Note: This article first appeared in the Chanhassen Villager, January 11, 2007.
Behind the deadly news from Iraq we have a legitimate question: Why are we in Iraq? To answer that question, we must look at the events that preceded our involvement. It starts on June 26, 1945 when the United Nations is born. The United States becomes a member shortly thereafter.
How this ties into Iraq requires a look at the UN Charter. Article 43 states that all members of the UN undertake to make available to the UN Security Council, on its call …armed forces…. We can now fast forward to March 20, 2003. A letter of this date by the Permanent Representative of the United States of America to the UN, John D. Nergoponte, addressed to the President of the Security Council states that Coalition forces have commenced military operations in Iraq. These operations are necessary in accordance with Security Council Resolutions 1441 (2002), 678 (1990) and 687 (1991).
Under authority of UN Security resolutions, therefore, our government committed our military to invade Iraq.
There is a conflict with the US Constitution and UN Security Resolutions. Our founding fathers specifically restricted the deployment of our armed forces to a declaration of war by Congress. The reasoning here is that one person (the President) cannot be allowed to exercise this power on his own. The burden, therefore, lies on all 435 Representatives and 100 Senators to commit our military, and requires debate and a declaration of war. The people then have a say in the matter, because without constituent support Congress would never pass such a declaration. Absent a declaration of war, the war in Iraq is unconstitutional and illegal.
President Bush committed our troops to Iraq and then came to Congress for approval. Congress, in an untenable situation, capitulated and rubber-stamped the President’s action. We have and are suffering great loss as a consequence.
We are embroiled in a religious war in Iraq. The entire Muslim world considers us infidels that must be eliminated. To think that we can overcome centuries of conflict with the warring religious factions in the middle-east is fantasy. Iraq was much better off before we got there than they are now. The pretext of weapons of mass destruction to draw us into this conflict is a cruel hoax.
So the answer to the question is that we are in Iraq because of our membership in the UN.
Our policy, therefore, should be to sever our relations with, and to get us out of the United Nations. It must be done over the shortest possible period of time to prevent serious disruptions. We should tell the world that the US military will never be involved in the future against any nation without a Congressional declaration of war.
By: Rolland Neve (revennlj@earthlink.net)
