In the wake of post-Cold War triumphalism, neocons in the US conceived the Project for the New American Century in the hope of establishing US hegemony over land, sea and space. (“Has the US learnt nothing from the chaos after 9/11?”, August 30).
When the neocons presented the plan for their first act of aggression to former US president Bill Clinton he refused to entertain an invasion of Iraq, preferring the option of bombing the country. But in 2000, with the election of George W Bush, they found a ready and willing enabler. Bush in turn found an enthusiastic ally in Tony Blair for the neocons’ nefarious deeds.
The US invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan were illegal under international law. Under the UN charter, armed force can be justified only if such force is authorised by the UN Security Council or used in self-defence. Neither condition was fulfilled in either invasion.
It is apposite to consider the fate of World War 2 German leaders who committed acts of aggression. The Allied powers, chief among them the US, drew up the Nuremberg principles and in 1947 Nazi leaders were charged under principle VI with “planning, preparation, initiation or waging of a war of aggression”.
Logically, the war-mongering neocons and their enablers should have been arrested and arraigned in the same way as with Nazi leaders. That this has not happened and these war criminals continue to enjoy impunity is an indictment of the prosecution authority of the US.
Gunvant Govindjee
Ormonde
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