Will Jack Straw prosecute himself under war criminals law?

New powers to prosecute war criminals living in Britain have been unveiled by the justice secretary, Jack Straw. He proposes prosecutions against British nationals and residents accused of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Straw says the law will send a clear signal that Britain will no longer be a safe haven for those who commit such crimes. Will he begin by considering the case against himself?

As the Minister in charge of foreign affairs the war with Iraq was Jack Straw’s responsibility. Jack Straw supported the Prime Minister and urged members of Parliament to vote in favour of war when he used the following words in closing the debate in Parliament on March 18th 2003.

"But as elected Members of Parliament, we all know that we will be judged not only on our intentions, but on the results, the consequences of our decisions... Yes of course there will be consequences if the House approves the Government’s motion. Our forces will almost certainly be involved in military action. Some may be killed; so too, will innocent Iraqi civilians... I urge the House to vote with the Government tonight."

This statement provides clear evidence that Jack Straw knew perfectly well that Britain’s armed forces were about to kill innocent Iraqi civilians. It shows beyond doubt that he knew what he was doing and that he intended to destroy part of the Iraqi national group thereby proving that he was setting out to commit the crime of genocide of the Iraqi people.

It also provides clear evidence of conspiracy to murder. By urging members of Parliament to vote in favour of an armed attack on Iraq, Jack Straw was instrumental in persuading enough members of Parliament to vote in favour of war to obtain a government majority.

If Parliament had upheld international law and voted against the war Britain would not have joined the Coalition and the killings would not have taken place.

As the crimes did take place and the evidence for all the elements of the crime of genocide are present, Jack Straw should be arrested and charged with genocide and a crime against humanity. He should also face charges of incitement to murder and conspiracy to murder.

He would be joined in the dock by arch war criminal Tony Blair, who took Britain into five wars; Lord Goldsmith, the country's senior law officer in 2003, who doctored his legal advice to justify a war he knew full well violated international law; Gordon Brown, who unreservedly supported Blair's warmongering; Alistair Campbell, the author of the "dodgy" dossier which stated that Iraq could deploy weapons of mass destruction "within 45 minutes"; and many more listed by the Make Wars History website.

If the inquiry into the Iraq war, which is about to begin, had any teeth and was a genuine attempt to establish the truth of why Britain joined George Bush's war, which has slaughtered over one million Iraqi civilians, the first war criminal to be indicted under Jack Straw's new law would be himself.

http://stopwar.org.uk/content/view/1342/1/

War Criminals

1. Queen Elizabeth II
At her coronation in 1953 the Queen took the coronation oath and swore to uphold the law.

“Will you solemnly promise and swear to govern the people of this kingdom of England and the Dominions thereto belonging according to the Statutes in Parliament agreed on and the Laws and customs of the same?Will you to your power cause Law and Justice in mercy to be executed in all your judgements?"

By signing the orders to the armed forces to undertake an armed attack on Iraq in which tens of
thousands of innocent men, women and children were killed the Queen violated the Statutes,
Laws and customs pertaining to warfare and armed conflict and failed to act in a legal, just and
merciful manner. By commanding the armed forces to undertake armed attacks on Iraq, which
resulted in the deaths of one million people of whom 300,000 were children, she committed the
criminal offences of genocide and a crime against humanity under sections 51 and 52 of the
International Criminal Court Act 2001.

Since she came to power in 1952 Queen Elisabeth II has been personally responsible for more
violent illegal deaths of innocent men, women and children than any monarch in Britain’s long
and turbulent historyx. She has always had the authority to reject her Prime Ministers’ proposals
for war. She could have halted Anthony Eden’s attack on Suez, Margaret Thatcher’s sinking of
the Belgrano or Tony Blair’s attacks on Kosovo, Afghanistan and Iraq; yet she didn’t. She
knew that innocent men, women and children would be killed, yet she authorised war.
The Queen knew that not only would her soldiers, sailors and airmen kill innocent Iraqis, but that
some of them would themselves be killed. She knows that killing an innocent person is a crime
and presumably she understood when she gave the royal assent to the International Criminal
Court Act in 2001 that genocide and a crime against humanity are criminal offences and that
she herself would be culpable if she signed the active service orders.

2. Tony Blair

The Prime Minister has involved Britain in five wars since 1998. On each occasion innocent
people who had done no wrong to Britain have been killed. Tony Blair is personally responsible
for killing and injuring in excess of two million people. In law he is responsible for a crime
against peace, crimes against humanity, war crimes, genocide and conduct ancillary to these
crimes as well as for murder and conspiracy to murder.After he took the decision to support
George Bush’s attempts to get rid of Saddam Hussein he set out to construct a rationale that
would sell the war to the public. In doing so he lied to Parliament and the people over the
weapons of mass destruction, he lied over the 45 minute threat, he lied over UN Security
Council authorisation and he lied over the legality of the war.

Tony Blair cannot be trusted with the lives of innocent people. Although he knows perfectly
well that murder is a criminal offence, that capital punishment was abolished forty years ago and
that killing people because of their nationality, race, religion or ethnicity is an act of genocide, he
still went ahead with the war endlessly repeating the mantra that he knew it was the right thing
to do. When has killing an innocent child ever been the right thing to do? When has firing a
cruise missile into a crowded Baghdad market place ever been lawful? How does the massacre
at Fallujah where rockets, bombs and missiles were used to kill 750 of its inhabitants accord
with international law? Nothing about the invasion and occupation of Iraq is or has ever been
legitimate or lawful. Tony Blair and George Bush, two of the 21st century’s most evil leaders, not
only committed the same crime for which Germany’s leaders were convicted and hanged in
1946, but committed genocide the world’s worst crime.

3. Lord Goldsmith

Peter Goldsmith is third on the list of British war criminals for his part in the Iraq war. His legal
advice to the Prime Minister and Parliament was both erroneous and fundamentally flawed. If
he had done the job for which he is paid he would have informed Tony Blair, the Cabinet,
Parliament, the Government, the armed forces and the nation that the waging of an aggressive
war is the world’s worst crime, and that should they support even a minor aspect of George
Bush’s illegal invasion and occupation of Iraq in which Iraqi nationals were killed, they would be
committing the crimes of genocide and a crime against humanity both of which are criminal
offences in international and English law and for both of which every member of the
Government could be arrested, indicted and tried in the International Criminal Court in The
Hague. Just why he omitted to mention the laws of war when he was asked for his legal advice
is yet to be determined; but one thing is for sure. If he had warned the nation of the illegal
nature of the Bush – Blair war on Saddam and the implications for British citizens of taking part
in any form of armed conflict, the war with Iraq could not and would not have taken place and I
million Iraqi lives would have been saved.

4. Gordon Brown

The Chancellor is on the list because of his membership of the Cabinet, his influential role in the
Government and his control of the purse strings. If he had upheld the law as he promised when
he entered Parliament, if he had insisted in Cabinet that the country must never wage a war of
aggression, if he had refused to transfer funds to the armed forces to pay for the war and if he
had supported Robin Cook in his stand against Blair, we would never have gone to war.
Gordon Brown has always been in favour of the war with Iraq and as a prime mover and shaker
in the Labour Government is jointly and severally responsible for commanding Britain’s armed
forces to join the Coalition and responsible for the deaths of 1 million Iraqis. As such he is one
of Britain’s foremost war criminals.

5. Jack Straw

Jack Straw took over the Foreign and Commonwealth Office on the resignation of Robin Cook.
The FCO is the Department of Government responsible for foreign affairs and responsible for
Britain’s relationships with the rest of the world. If the FCO had done its job correctly Britain
would never wage war and the proposal to attack Iraq would have been dismissed outright. As
the Minister in charge of foreign affairs the war with Iraq was Jack Straw’s responsibility. Jack
Straw supported the Prime Minister and urged members of Parliament to vote in favour of war
when he used the following words in closing the debate in Parliament on March 18th 2003.

“But as elected Members of Parliament, we all know that we will be judged not only
on our intentions, but on the results, the consequences of our decisions... Yes of
course there will be consequences if the House approves the Government’s motion.
Our forces will almost certainly be involved in military action. Some may be killed;
so too, will innocent Iraqi civilians... I urge the House to vote with the Government
tonight.”

This statement provides clear evidence that Jack Straw knew perfectly well that Britain’s armed
forces were about to kill innocent Iraqi civilians. It shows beyond doubt that he knew what he
was doing and that he intended to destroy part of the Iraqi national group thereby proving that he
was setting out to commit the crime of genocide of the Iraqi people. It also provides clear
evidence of conspiracy to murder. By urging members of Parliament to vote in favour of an
armed attack on Iraq, Jack Straw was instrumental in persuading enough members of
Parliament to vote in favour of war to obtain a government majority. If Parliament had upheld
international law and voted against the war Britain would not have joined the Coalition and the
killings would not have taken place. As the crimes did take place and the evidence for all the
elements of the crime of genocide are present, Jack Straw should be arrested and charged with
genocide and a crime against humanity. He should also face charges of incitement to murder
and conspiracy to murder.

6. Geoff Hoon

Geoff Hoon was the Defence Minister when the war with Iraq started and he was the Minister of
State responsible for ordering the armed forces into war. If Geoff Hoon had upheld the laws of
war and the international treaties outlawing war to which Britain is a signatory then the war with
Iraq would never have taken place. He authorised the involvement of the Armed Forces in the
war and he claimed that the use of cluster bombs and depleted uranium in Iraq was lawful.
The possession, manufacture or use of cluster bombs (anti-personnel explosives) and depleted
uranium are forbidden under the terms of the Landmines and Chemical Weapons Conventions.
Unexploded cluster bombs do more damage in maiming and killing children than they ever do to
their so called military targets. He knew or should have known that attacking undefended
villages, towns and cities in Iraq was a breach of the Geneva Conventions and a serious crime.
As Minister of Defence he must have known that the only time when war is legal is when a
nation defends itself from an attack and he knew that Britain was not under attack. He knew
that forcibly removing Saddam Hussein was illegal and that by ordering the troops to take part in
a war of aggression he was commissioning the worlds most serious crime. At any time Geoff
Hoon could have stopped the war, stopped the killing and recalled the troops.

7. Lord Boyce

Admiral Boyce was Chief of the Defence Staff when the war started in 2003. He was
responsible for giving the orders to the armed forces to take part in the invasion and occupation
of Iraq. If he had upheld domestic and international law and refused to involve Britain’s defence
forces in a war of aggression, a million Iraqis and 130 British service personnel would still be
alive today. Their blood is on his hands. Their deaths are his responsibility.

8. Lord Turnbull

Andrew Turnbull was the Cabinet Secretary during the run up to the war. He was Britain’s
senior civil servant and responsible for the actions and behaviour of all Britain’s civil servants.
The fact that British politicians were able to renege on international treaties at will is down to
Andrew Turnbull. As the Cabinet Secretary he had the responsibility for ensuring that the
Cabinet had the facts and figures to hand before making their decisions. That the cabinet
came to decisions on behalf of the nation that ignored international treaties, violated
international law and put millions of human lives at risk was his responsibility. It is clear that the decision-making processes in use in Government are faulty, corrupt and inappropriate for a 21st century democracy. Andrew Turnbull is jointly responsible for the deaths of more than 1 million innocent people and was a key figure in the genocide of the Iraqi people.

9. Sir Michael Jay

Michael Jay was the senior civil servant at the Foreign Office during the run up to the war.
Together with Andrew Turnbull he had the fate of the Iraqi people in his hands and he failed
them. He was in charge of the Foreign Office and together with mandarins such as Christopher
Meyer and Jeremy Greenstock was responsible for developing and steering British foreign
policy. Britain could not have waged war with Iraq if the Foreign Office under Sir Michael Jay
had done its job correctly. He failed totally to persuade or remind the politicians to abide by the
law and to adopt a pacific approach to international relations. He could have instructed Jeremy
Greenstock to formulate a peacekeeping proposal to put to the UN Security Council instead of
trying to push through a war making resolution; he could have instructed Christopher Meyer to
warn Tony Blair and the Americans in the spring of 2002 of the illegal nature of the proposal to
invade Iraq; and he could have insisted that the Government upheld international treaties and
played a proper peacekeeping role in the world. He failed to stop the conflict and instead
played a major part in the planning and preparations for war and the genocide of the Iraqi
people and as such qualifies as one of Britain’s worst war criminals.

5000 British war criminals

Although the main responsibility for the war with Iraq and the genocide of the Iraqi people lies
with Tony Blair and George Bush, there are several thousand others in America, Australia and
Britain who took part in the planning, preparation and conduct of the war and by failing to resign
their posts are criminally responsible in law. In Britain these include:-

• John Prescott and David Blunkett (deputy Prime Minister and Home Office Minister)
• All other members of the Cabinet serving on or after March 18th 2003
• All Junior Government Ministers serving on or after March 18th 2003
• The 412 MPs who voted in favour of the war in the debate on March 18th 2003.
• Those members of the House of Lords who accepted the decision to wage war and
• failed to resign their peerages, including the Law Lords and Bishops
• The Staff and Advisors at No 10 Downing St. (Jonathan Powell, Alistair Campbell etc)
• Government law officers and legal advisors in the Law Officers Department, the Ministry
• of Defence, the Cabinet Office, the FCO and the Home Office.
• Senior Civil servants and advisors in the Cabinet Office, the FCO, the MOD, the
• Treasury and Departments involved in the planning, preparation or conduct of war.
• The Chiefs of the Defence Staff and the armed forces commanders and senior officers in
• Whitehall and in the field of combat.
• The Queen’s advisors.
• The Lord Chief Justice and High Court, County Court and Magistrates Court judges who
• rejected legal attempts to stop the war.
• The Metropolitan Police Commissioner Lord Stevens.
• Journalists, editors and members of the media who supported the war.
• Taxpayers who continue to pay tax after they know that it is an illegal act.

Just as Robin Cook resigned from the Cabinet, Elisabeth Wilmshurst from the Foreign Office
and Malcolm Kendall Smith refused to serve in Iraq, so too could these people have resigned
from their positions or refused to serve or co-operate with this Government. They fully deserve
to answer in court for their part in the crimes against Iraq.

http://www.makewarshistory.net/mwh/war-criminals.html