Cowlesy
08-28-2013, 06:52 AM
These people have no shame at all.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/28/opinion/bomb-syria-even-if-it-is-illegal.html
Op-Ed Contributor
Bomb Syria, Even if It Is Illegal
By IAN HURD
Published: August 27, 2013 113 Comments
EVANSTON, Ill. — THE latest atrocities in the Syrian civil war, which has killed more than 100,000 people, demand an urgent response to deter further massacres and to punish President Bashar al-Assad. But there is widespread confusion over the legal basis for the use of force in these terrible circumstances. As a legal matter, the Syrian government’s use of chemical weapons does not automatically justify armed intervention by the United States.
Room for Debate
Is an Attack on Syria Justified?
Should the United States and its allies launch air strikes against Syria in response to the Assad regime's reported use of chemical weapons?
There are moral reasons for disregarding the law, and I believe the Obama administration should intervene in Syria. But it should not pretend that there is a legal justification in existing law. Secretary of State John Kerry seemed to do just that on Monday, when he said of the use of chemical weapons, “This international norm cannot be violated without consequences.” His use of the word “norm,” instead of “law,” is telling.
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Of course ethics, not only laws, should guide policy decisions. Since the Rwandan genocide and the Balkan mass killings of the 1990s, a movement has emerged in support of adding humanitarian intervention as a third category of lawful war, under the concept of the “responsibility to protect.” It is widely accepted by the United Nations and most governments. It is not, however, in the charter, and it lacks the force of law.
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Ian Hurd, an associate professor of political science at Northwestern, is the author of “After Anarchy: Legitimacy and Power in the United Nations Security Council.”
It drives me bonkers that such naivete can be showcased from the Ivory Towers about how the world works.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/28/opinion/bomb-syria-even-if-it-is-illegal.html
Op-Ed Contributor
Bomb Syria, Even if It Is Illegal
By IAN HURD
Published: August 27, 2013 113 Comments
EVANSTON, Ill. — THE latest atrocities in the Syrian civil war, which has killed more than 100,000 people, demand an urgent response to deter further massacres and to punish President Bashar al-Assad. But there is widespread confusion over the legal basis for the use of force in these terrible circumstances. As a legal matter, the Syrian government’s use of chemical weapons does not automatically justify armed intervention by the United States.
Room for Debate
Is an Attack on Syria Justified?
Should the United States and its allies launch air strikes against Syria in response to the Assad regime's reported use of chemical weapons?
There are moral reasons for disregarding the law, and I believe the Obama administration should intervene in Syria. But it should not pretend that there is a legal justification in existing law. Secretary of State John Kerry seemed to do just that on Monday, when he said of the use of chemical weapons, “This international norm cannot be violated without consequences.” His use of the word “norm,” instead of “law,” is telling.
--
Of course ethics, not only laws, should guide policy decisions. Since the Rwandan genocide and the Balkan mass killings of the 1990s, a movement has emerged in support of adding humanitarian intervention as a third category of lawful war, under the concept of the “responsibility to protect.” It is widely accepted by the United Nations and most governments. It is not, however, in the charter, and it lacks the force of law.
--
Ian Hurd, an associate professor of political science at Northwestern, is the author of “After Anarchy: Legitimacy and Power in the United Nations Security Council.”
It drives me bonkers that such naivete can be showcased from the Ivory Towers about how the world works.