International War Crimes Tribunal

United States War Crimes Against Iraq

Initial Complaint

Charging

George Bush, J. Danforth Quayle, James Baker,

Richard Cheney, William Webster, Colin Powell,

Norman Schwarzkopf and Others to be named

With

Crimes Against Peace, War Crimes, Crimes Against

Humanity and Other Criminal Acts and High Crimes in

Violation of the Charter of the United Nations,

International Law, the Constitution of the United States

and Laws made in Pursuance Thereof.

Preliminary Statement

These charges have been prepared prior to the first hearing of the Commission of

Inquiry by its staff. They are based on direct and circumstantial evidence from public

and private documents; official statements and admissions by the persons charged and

others; eyewitness accounts; Commission investigations and witness interviews in Iraq,

the Middle East and elsewhere during and after the bombing; photographs and video

tape; expert analyses; commentary and interviews; media coverage, published reports

and accounts gathered between December 1990 and May l991. Commission of

Inquiry hearings will be held in key cities where evidence is available supporting,

expanding, adding, contradicting, disproving or explaining these, or similar charges

against the accused and others of whatever nationality. When evidence sufficient to

sustain convictions of the accused or others is obtained and after demanding the

production of documents from the U.S. government, and others, and requesting

testimony from the accused, offering them a full opportunity to present any defense

personally, or by counsel, the evidence will be presented to an International War

Crimes Tribunal. The Tribunal will consider the evidence gathered, seek and examine

whatever additional evidence it chooses and render its judgment on the charges, the

evidence, and the law.

Background

Since World War I, the United Kingdom, France, and the United States have

dominated the Arabian Peninsula and Gulf region and its oil resources. This has been

accomplished by military conquest and coercion, economic control and exploitation,

and through surrogate governments and their military forces. Thus, from 1953 to 1979

in the post World War II era, control over the region was exercised primarily through

U.S. influence and control over the Gulf sheikdoms of Saudi Arabia and through the

Shah of Iran. From 1953 to 1979 the Shah of Iran acted as a Pentagon/CIA surrogate

to police the region. After the fall of the Shah and the seizure of U.S. Embassy

hostages in Teheran, the U.S. provided military aid and assistance to Iraq, as did the

USSR, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and most of the Emirates, in its war with Iran. U.S.

policy during that tragic eight year war, 1980 ‑ 1988, is probably best summed up by

the phrase, "we hope they kill each other."

Throughout the seventy‑five year period from Britain's invasion of Iraq early in World

War I to the destruction of Iraq in 1991 by U.S. air power, the United States and the

United Kingdom demonstrated no concern for democratic values, human rights, social

justice, or political and cultural integrity in the region, nor for stopping military

aggression there. The U.S. supported the Shah of Iran for 25 years, selling him more

than $20 billion of advanced military equipment between 1972 and 1978 alone.

Throughout this period the Shah and his brutal secret police called SAVAK had one of

the worst human rights records in the world. Then in the 1980s, the U.S. supported

Iraq in its wrongful aggression against Iran, ignoring Iraq's own poor human rights

record.[l]

When the Iraqi government nationalized the Iraqi Petroleum Company in 1972, the

Nixon Administration embarked on a campaign to destabilize the Iraqi government. It

was in the 1970s that the U.S. first armed and then abandoned the Kurdish people,

costing tens of thousands of Kurdish lives. The U.S. manipulated the Kurds through

CIA and other agencies to attack Iraq, intending to harass Iraq while maintaining

Iranian supremacy at the cost of Kurdish lives without intending any benefit to the

Kurdish people or an autonomous Kurdistan.[2]

The U.S. with close oil and other economic ties to Saudi Arabia and Kuwait has fully

supported both governments despite the total absence of democratic institutions, their

pervasive human rights violations and the infliction of cruel, inhuman and degrading

punishments such as stoning to death for adultery and amputation of a hand for

property offenses.

The U.S., sometimes alone among nations, supported Israel when it defied scores of

UN resolutions concerning Palestinian rights, when it invaded Lebanon in a war which

took tens of thousands of lives, and during its continuing occupation of southern

Lebanon, the Golan Heights, the West Bank and Gaza.

The United States itself engaged in recent aggressions in violation of international law

by invading Grenada in 1983, bombing Tripoli and Benghazi in Libya in 1986, financing

the contra in Nicaragua, UNITA in southern Africa and supporting military

dictatorships in Liberia, Chile, E1 Salvador, Guatemala, the Philippines, and many

other places.

The U.S. invasion of Panama in December 1989 involved the same and additional

violations of international law that apply to Iraq's invasion of Kuwait. The U.S. invasion

took between 1,000 and 4,000 Panamanian lives. The United States government is still

covering up the death toll. U.S. aggression caused massive property destruction

throughout Panama.[3] According to U.S. and international human rights organization

estimates, Kuwait's casualties from Iraq's invasion and the ensuing months of

occupation were in the "hundreds" ‑ between 300 and 600.[4] Reports from Kuwait

list 628 Palestinians killed by Kuwaiti death squads since the Sabah royal family

regained control over Kuwait.

The United States changed its military plans for protecting its control over oil and other

interests in the Arabian Peninsula in the late 1980s when it became clear that economic

problems in the USSR were debilitating its military capacity and Soviet forces

withdrew from Afghanistan. Thereafter, direct military domination within the region

became the U.S. strategy.

With the decline in U.S. oil production through 1989, experts predicted U.S. oil

imports from the Gulf would rise from 10% that year to 25% by the year 2000.

Japanese and European dependency is much greater.[5]

The Charges

1. The United States engaged in a pattern of conduct beginning in

or before 1989 intended to lead Iraq into provocations justifying

U.S. military action against Iraq and permanent U.S. military

domination of the Gulf.

In 1989, General Colin Powell, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and General

Norman Schwarzkopf, Commander in Chief of the Central Command, completely

revised U.S. military operations and plans for the Persian Gulf to prepare to intervene

in a regional conflict against Iraq. The CIA assisted and directed Kuwait in its actions.

At the time, Kuwait was violating OPEC oil production agreements, extracting

excessive amounts of oil from pools shared with Iraq and demanding repayment of

loans it made to Iraq during the Iran‑Iraq war. Kuwait broke off negotiations with Iraq

over these disputes. The U.S. intended to provoke Iraq into actions against Kuwait

that would justify U.S. intervention.

In 1989, CIA Director William Webster testified before the Congress about the

alarming increase in U.S. importation of Gulf oil, citing U.S. rise in use from 5% in

1973 to 10% in 1989 and predicting 25% of all U.S. oil consumption would come

from the region by 2000.[6] In early 1990, General Schwarzkopf informed the Senate

Armed Services Committee of the new military strategy in the Gulf designed to protect

U.S. access to and control over Gulf oil in the event of regional conflicts.

In July 1990, General Schwarzkopf and his staff ran elaborate, computerized war

games pitting about 100,000 U.S. troops against Iraqi armored divisions.

The U.S. showed no opposition to Iraq's increasing threats against Kuwait. U.S.

companies sought major contracts in Iraq. The Congress approved agricultural loan

subsidies to Iraq of hundreds of millions of dollars to benefit U.S. farmers. However,

loans for food deliveries of rice, corn, wheat and other essentials bought almost

exclusively from the U.S. were cut off in the spring of 1990 to cause shortages. Arms

were sold to Iraq by U.S. manufacturers. When Saddam Hussein requested U.S.

Ambassador April Glaspie to explain State Department testimony in Congress about

lraq's threats against Kuwait, she assured him the U.S. considered the dispute a

regional concern, and it would not intervene. By these acts, the U.S. intended to lead

Iraq into a provocation justifying war.

On August 2, 1990, Iraq occupied Kuwait without significant resistance.

On August 3, 1990, without any evidence of a threat to Saudi Arabia, and King Fahd

believed Iraq had no intention of invading his country, President Bush vowed to defend

Saudi Arabia. He sent Secretary Cheney, General Powell, and General Schwarzkopf

almost immediately to Saudi Arabia where on August 6, General Schwarzkopf told

King Fahd the U.S. thought Saddam Hussein could attack Saudi Arabia in as little as

48 hours. The efforts toward an Arab solution of the crisis were destroyed. Iraq never

attacked Saudi Arabia and waited over five months while the U.S. slowly built a force

of more than 500,000 soldiers and began the systematic destruction by aircraft and

missiles of Iraq and its military, both defenseless against U.S. and coalition technology.

In October 1990, General Powell referred to the new military plan developed in 1989.

After the war, General Schwarzkopf referred to eighteen months of planning for the

campaign.

The U.S. retains troops in Iraq as of May 1991 and throughout the region and has

announced its intention to maintain a permanent military presence.

This course of conduct constitutes a crime against peace.

2. President Bush from August 2, 1990, intended and acted to

prevent any interference with his plan to destroy Iraq economically

and militarily.

Without consultation or communication with Congress, President Bush ordered 40,000

U.S. military personnel to advance the U.S. buildup in Saudi Arabia in the first week of

August 1990. He exacted a request from Saudi Arabia for U.S. military assistance and

on August 8, 1990, assured the world his acts were "wholly defensive." He waited until

after the November 1990 elections to announce his earlier order sending more than

200,000 additional military personnel, clearly an assault force, again without advising

Congress. As late as January 9, 1991, he insisted he had the constitutional authority to

attack Iraq without Congressional approval.

While concealing his intention, President Bush continued the military build up of U.S.

forces unabated from August into January 1991, intending to attack and destroy Iraq.

He pressed the military to expedite preparation and to commence the assault before

military considerations were optimum. When Air Force Chief of Staff General Michael

J. Dugan mentioned plans to destroy the Iraqi civilian economy to the press on

September 16, 1990, he was removed from office.[7]

President Bush coerced the United Nations Security Council into an unprecedented

series of resolutions, finally securing authority for any nation in its absolute discretion by

all necessary means to enforce the resolutions. To secure votes the U.S. paid

multi‑billion dollar bribes, offered arms for regional wars, threatened and carried out

economic retaliation, forgave multi‑billion dollar loans (including a $7 billion loan to

Egypt for arms), offered diplomatic relations despite human rights violations and in

other ways corruptly exacted votes, creating the appearance of near universal

international approval of U.S. policies toward Iraq. A country which opposed the

U.S., as Yemen did, lost millions of dollars in aid, as promised, the costliest vote it ever

cast.

President Bush consistently rejected and ridiculed Iraq's efforts to negotiate a peaceful

resolution, beginning with Iraq's August 12, 1990, proposal, largely ignored, and

ending with its mid‑February 1991 peace offer which he called a "cruel hoax." For his

part, President Bush consistently insisted there would be no negotiation, no

compromise, no face saving, no reward for aggression. Simultaneously, he accused

Saddam Hussein of rejecting diplomatic solutions.

President Bush led a sophisticated campaign to demonize Saddam Hussein, calling him

a Hitler, repeatedly citing reports ‑ which he knew were false ‑ of the murder of

hundreds of incubator babies, accusing Iraq of using chemical weapons on his own

people and on the Iranians knowing U.S intelligence believed the reports untrue.

After subverting every effort for peace, President Bush began the destruction of Iraq

answering his own question, "Why not wait? . . . The world could wait no longer." The

course of conduct constitutes a crime against peace.

3. President Bush ordered the destruction of facilities essential to

civilian life and economic productivity throughout Iraq.

Systematic aerial and missile bombardment of Iraq was ordered to begin at 6:30 p.m.

EST January 16, 1991, eighteen and one‑half hours after the deadline set on the

insistence of President Bush, in order to be reported on television evening news in the

U.S. The bombing continued for forty‑two days. It met no resistance from Iraqi aircraft

and no effective anti‑aircraft or anti‑missile ground fire. Iraq was defenseless.

The United States reports it flew 110,000 air sorties against Iraq, dropping 88,000

tons of bombs, nearly seven times the equivalent of the atomic bomb that destroyed

Hiroshima. 93% of the bombs were free falling bombs, most dropped from higher than

30,000 feet. Of the remaining 7% of the bombs with electronically guided systems,

more than 25% missed their targets, nearly all caused damage primarily beyond any

identifiable target. Most of the targets were civilian facilities.

The intention and effort of the bombing of civilian life and facilities was to systematically

destroy Iraq's infrastructure leaving it in a preindustrial condition. Iraq's civilian

population was dependent on industrial capacities. The U.S. assault left Iraq in a near

apocalyptic condition as reported by the first United Nations observers after the

war.[8] Among the facilities targeted and destroyed were:

electric power generation, relay and transmission;

water treatment, pumping and distribution systems and reservoirs;

telephone and radio exchanges, relay stations, towers and transmission facilities;

food processing, storage and distribution facilities and markets, infant milk

formula and beverage plants, animal vaccination facilities and irrigation sites;

railroad transportation facilities, bus depots, bridges, highway overpasses,

highways, highway repair stations, trains, buses and other public transportation

vehicles, commercial and private vehicles;

oil wells and pumps, pipelines, refineries, oil storage tanks, gasoline filling

stations and fuel delivery tank cars and trucks, and kerosene storage tanks;

sewage treatment and disposal systems;

factories engaged in civilian production, e.g., textile and automobile assembly;

and

historical markers and ancient sites.

As a direct, intentional and foreseeable result of this destruction, tens of thousands of

people have died from dehydration, dysentery and diseases caused by impure water,

inability to obtain effective medical assistance and debilitation from hunger, shock, cold

and stress. More will die until potable water, sanitary living conditions, adequate food

supplies and other necessities are provided. There is a high risk of epidemics of

cholera, typhoid, hepatitis and other diseases as well as starvation and malnutrition

through the summer of 1991 and until food supplies are adequate and essential services

are restored.

Only the United States could have carried out this destruction of Iraq, and the war was

conducted almost exclusively by the United States. This conduct violated the UN

Charter, the Hague and Geneva Conventions, the Nuremberg Charter, and the laws of

armed conflict.

4. The United States intentionally bombed and destroyed civilian

life, commercial and business districts, schools, hospitals,

mosques, churches, shelters, residential areas, historical sites,

private vehicles and civilian government offices.

The destruction of civilian facilities left the entire civilian population without heat,

cooking fuel, refrigeration, potable water, telephones, power for radio or TV

reception, public transportation and fuel for private automobiles. It also limited food

supplies, closed schools, created massive unemployment, severely limited economic

activity and caused hospitals and medical services to shut down. In addition, residential

areas of every major city and most towns and villages were targeted and destroyed.

Isolated Bedouin camps were attacked by U.S. aircraft. In addition to deaths and

injuries, the aerial assault destroyed 10 ‑ 20,000 homes, apartments and other

dwellings. Commercial centers with shops, retail stores, offices, hotels, restaurants and

other public accommodations were targeted and thousands were destroyed. Scores of

schools, hospitals, mosques and churches were damaged or destroyed. Thousands of

civilian vehicles on highways, roads and parked on streets and in garages were targeted

and destroyed. These included public buses, private vans and mini‑buses, trucks,

tractor trailers, lorries, taxi cabs and private cars. The purpose of this bombing was to

terrorize the entire country, kill people, destroy property, prevent movement,

demoralize the people and force the overthrow of the government.

As a result of the bombing of facilities essential to civilian life, residential and other

civilian buildings and areas, at least 125,000 men, women and children were killed. The

Red Crescent Society of Jordan estimated 113,000 civilian dead, 60% children, the

week before the end of the war.

The conduct violated the UN Charter, the Hague and Geneva Conventions, the

Nuremberg Charter, and the laws of armed conflict.

5. The United States intentionally bombed indiscriminately

throughout Iraq.

In aerial attacks, including strafing, over cities, towns, the countryside and highways,

U.S. aircraft bombed and strafed indiscriminately. In every city and town bombs fell by

chance far from any conceivable target, whether a civilian facility, military installation or

military target. In the countryside random attacks were made on travelers, villagers,

even Bedouins. The purpose of the attacks was to destroy life, property and terrorize

the civilian population. On the highways, civilian vehicles including public buses taxicabs

and passenger cars were bombed and strafed at random to frighten civilians from flight,

from seeking food or medical care, finding relatives or other uses of highways. The

effect was summary execution and corporal punishment indiscriminately of men,

women and children, young and old, rich and poor, all nationalities including the large

immigrant populations even Americans, all ethnic groups, including many Kurds and

Assyrians, all religions including Shia and Sunni Moslems, Chaldeans and other

Christians, and Jews. U.S. deliberate indifference to civilian and military casualties in

Iraq, or their nature, is exemplified by General Colin Powell's response to a press

inquiry about the number dead from the air and ground campaigns: "It's really not a

number I'm terribly interested in."[9]

The conduct violates Protocol I Additional, Article 51.4 to the Geneva Conventions of

1977.

6. The United States intentionally bombed and destroyed Iraqi

military personnel, used excessive force, killed soldiers seeking to

surrender and in disorganized individual flight, often unarmed and

far from any combat zones and randomly and wantonly killed Iraqi

soldiers and destroyed materiel after the cease fire.

In the first hours of the aerial and missile bombardment, the United States destroyed

most military communications and began the systematic killing of soldiers who were

incapable of defense or escape and the destruction of military equipment. Over a

period of forty‑two days, U.S bombing killed tens of thousands of defenseless soldiers,

cut off most of their food, water and other supplies and left them in desperate and

helpless disarray. Without significant risk to its own personnel, the U.S. led in the killing

of at least 100,000 Iraqi soldiers at a cost of 148 U.S. combat casualties, according to

the U.S. government. When it was determined that the civilian economy and the

military were sufficiently destroyed, the U.S. ground forces moved into Kuwait and

Iraq attacking disoriented disorganized, fleeing Iraqi forces wherever they could be

found, killing thousands more and destroying any equipment found. The slaughter

continued after the cease fire. For example, on March 2, 1991, U.S. 24th Division

Forces engaged in a four‑hour assault against Iraqis just west of Basra. More than 750

vehicles were destroyed, thousands were killed without U.S. casualties. A U.S.

commander said, "We really waxed them." It was called a "Turkey Shoot." One

Apache helicopter crew member yelled "Say hello to Allah" as he launched a

laser‑guided Hellfire missile.[10]

The intention was not to remove Iraq's presence from Kuwait. It was to destroy Iraq.

In the process there was great destruction of property in Kuwait. The disproportion in

death and destruction inflicted on a defenseless enemy exceeded 1,000 to one.

General Thomas Kelly commented on February 23, 1991, that by the time the ground

war begins "there won't be many of them left." General Norman Schwarzkopf placed

Iraqi military casualties at over 100,000. The intention was to destroy all military

facilities and equipment wherever located and to so decimate the military age male

population that Iraq could not raise a substantial force for half a generation.

The conduct violated the Charter of the United Nations, the Hague and Geneva

Conventions, the Nuremberg Charter, and the laws of armed conflict.

7. The United States used prohibited weapons capable of mass

destruction and inflicting indiscriminate death and unnecessary

suffering against both military and civilian targets.

Among the known illegal weapons and illegal uses of weapons employed by the United

States are the following:

fuel air explosives capable of widespread incineration and death;

napalm;

cluster and anti‑personnel fragmentation bombs; and

"superbombs," 2.5 ton devices, intended for assassination of government

leaders.

Fuel air explosives were used against troops‑in‑place, civilian areas, oil fields and

fleeing civilians and soldiers on two stretches of highway between Kuwait and Iraq.

Included in fuel air weapons used was the BLU‑82, a 15,000‑pound device capable of

incinerating everything within hundreds of yards.

One seven mile stretch called the "Highway of Death" was littered with hundreds of

vehicles and thousands of dead. All were fleeing to Iraq for their lives. Thousands were

civilians of all ages, including Kuwaitis, Iraqis, Palestinians, Jordanians and other

nationalities. Another 60‑mile stretch of road to the east was strewn with the remnants

of tanks, armored cars, trucks, ambulances and thousands of bodies following an

attack on convoys on the night of February 25, 1991. The press reported that no

survivors are known or likely. One flatbed truck contained nine bodies, their hair and

clothes were burned off, skin incinerated by heat so intense it melted the windshield

onto the dashboard.

Napalm was used against civilians, military personnel and to start fires. Oil well fires in

both Iraq and Kuwait were intentionally started by U.S. aircraft dropping napalm and

other heat intensive devices.

Cluster and anti‑personnel fragmentation bombs were used in Basra and other cities,

and towns, against the convoys described above and against military units. The

CBU‑75 carries 1,800 bomblets called Sadeyes. One type of Sadeyes can explode

before hitting the ground, on impact, or be timed to explode at different times after

impact. Each bomblet contains 600 razor sharp steel fragments lethal up to 40 feet.

The 1,800 bomblets from one CBU‑75 can cover an area equal to 157 football fields

with deadly shrapnel. "Superbombs" were dropped on hardened shelters, at least two

in the last days of the assault, with the intention of assassinating President Saddam

Hussein. One was misdirected. It was not the first time the Pentagon targeted a head of

state. In April 1986, the U.S. attempted to assassinate Col. Muammar Qaddafi by

laser directed bombs in its attack on Tripoli, Libya.

Illegal weapons killed thousands of civilians and soldiers.

The conduct violated the Hague and Geneva Conventions, the Nuremberg Charter and

the laws of armed conflict.

8. The United States intentionally attacked installations in Iraq

containing dangerous substances and forces.

Despite the fact that Iraq used no nuclear or chemical weapons and in the face of UN

resolutions limiting the authorized means of removing Iraqi forces from Kuwait, the

U.S. intentionally bombed alleged nuclear sites, chemical plants, dams and other

dangerous forces. The U.S. knew such attacks could cause the release of dangerous

forces from such installations and consequent severe losses among the civilian

population. While some civilians were killed in such attacks, there are no reported

cases of consequent severe losses presumably because lethal nuclear materials and

dangerous chemical and biological warfare substances were not present at the sites

bombed.

The conduct violates Protocol I Additional, Article 56, to the Geneva Convention,

1977.

9. President Bush ordered U.S. forces to invade Panama, resulting

in the deaths of 1,000 to 4,000 Panamanians and the destruction of

thousands of private dwellings, public buildings, and commercial

structures.

On December 20, 1989, President Bush ordered a military assault on Panama using

aircraft, artillery, helicopter gunships and experimenting with new weapons, including

the Stealth bomber. The attack was a surprise assault targeting civilian and

non‑combatant government structures. In the E1 Chorillo district of Panama City alone,

hundreds of civilians were killed and between 15,000 and 30,000 made homeless.

U.S. soldiers buried dead Panamanians in mass graves, often without identification. The

head of state, Manuel Noriega, who was systematically demonized by the U.S.

government and press, ultimately surrendered to U.S. forces and was brought to

Miami, Florida, on extra‑territorial U.S. criminal charges.

The U.S. invasion of Panama violated all the international laws Iraq violated when it

invaded Kuwait and more. Many more Panamanians were killed by U.S. forces than

Iraq killed Kuwaitis.

President Bush violated the Charter of the United Nations, the Hague and Geneva

Conventions, committed crimes against peace, war crimes and violated the

U.S.Constitution and numerous U.S. criminal statutes in ordering and directing the

assault on Panama.

10. President Bush obstructed justice and corrupted United

Nations functions as a means of securing power to commit crimes

against peace and war crimes.

President Bush caused the United Nations to completely bypass Chapter VI provisions

of its Charter for the Pacific Settlement of Disputes. This was done in order to obtain

Security Council resolutions authorizing the use of all necessary means, in the absolute

discretion of any nation, to fulfill UN resolutions directed against Iraq and which were

used to destroy Iraq. To obtain Security Council votes, the U.S. corruptly paid

member nations billions of dollars, provided them arms to conduct regional wars,

forgave billions in debts, withdrew opposition to a World Bank loan, agreed to

diplomatic relations despite human rights violations and threatened economic and

political reprisals. A nation which voted against the United States, Yemen, was

immediately punished by the loss of millions of dollars in aid. The U.S. paid the UN

$187 million to reduce the amount of dues it owed to the UN to avoid criticism of its

coercive activities. The United Nations, created to end the scourge of war, became an

instrument of war and condoned war crimes.

The conduct violates the Charter of the United Nations and the Constitution and laws

of the United States.

11. President Bush usurped the Constitutional power of Congress

as a means of securing power to commit crimes against peace, war

crimes, and other high crimes.

President Bush intentionally usurped Congressional power, ignored its authority, and

failed and refused to consult with the Congress. He deliberately misled, deceived,

concealed and made false representations to the Congress to prevent its free

deliberation and informed exercise of legislature power. President Bush individually

ordered a naval blockade against Iraq, itself an act of war. He switched U.S. forces

from a wholly defensive position and capability to an offensive capacity for aggression

against Iraq without consultation with and contrary to assurances given to the

Congress. He secured legislation approving enforcement of UN resolutions vesting

absolute discretion in any nation, providing no guidelines and requiring no reporting to

the UN, knowing he intended to destroy the ammed forces and civilian economy of

Iraq. Those acts were undertaken to enable him to commit crimes against peace and

war crimes.

The conduct violates the Constitution and laws of the United States, all committed to

engage in the other impeachable offenses set forth in this Complaint.

12. The United States waged war on the environment.

Pollution from the detonation of 88,000 tons of bombs, innumerable missiles, rockets,

artillery and small arms with the combustion and fires they caused and by 110,000 air

sorties at a rate of nearly two per minute for six weeks has caused enormous injury to

life and the ecology. Attacks by U.S. aircraft caused much if not all of the worst oil

spills in the Gulf. Aircraft and helicopters dropping napalm and fuel‑air explosives on oil

wells, storage tanks and refineries caused oil fires throughout Iraq and many, if not

most, of the oil well fires in Iraq and Kuwait. The intentional destruction of municipal

water systems, waste material treatment and sewage disposal systems constitutes a

direct and continuing assault on life and health throughout Iraq.

The conduct violated the UN Charter, the Hague and Geneva Conventions, the laws of

ammed conflict and constituted war crimes and crimes against humanity.

13. President Bush encouraged and aided Shiite Muslims and

Kurds to rebel against the government of Iraq causing fratricidal

violence, emigration, exposure, hunger and sickness and

thousands of deaths. After the rebellion failed, the U.S. invaded

and occupied parts of Iraq without authority in order to increase

division and hostility within Iraq.

Without authority from the Congress or the UN, President Bush continued his

imperious military actions after the cease fire. He encouraged and aided rebellion

against Iraq, failed to protect the warring parties, encouraged migration of whole

populations, placing them in jeopardy from the elements, hunger, and disease. After

much suffering and many deaths, President Bush then without authority used U.S.

military forces to distribute aid at and near the Turkish border, ignoring the often

greater suffering among refugees in Iran. He then arbitrarily set up bantustan‑like

settlements for Kurds in Iraq and demanded Iraq pay for U.S. costs. When Kurds

chose to return to their homes in Iraq, he moved U.S. troops further into northern Iraq

against the will of the government and without authority.

The conduct violated the Charter of the United Nations, international law, the

Constitution and laws of the United States, and the laws of Iraq.

14. President Bush intentionally deprived the Iraqi people of

essential medicines, potable water, food, and other necessities.

A major component of the assault on Iraq was the systematic deprivation of essential

human needs and services. To break the will of the people, destroy their economic

capability, reduce their numbers and weaken their health, the United States:

imposed and enforced embargoes preventing the shipment of needed medicines,

water purifiers, infant milk formula, food and other supplies;

individually, without congressional authority, ordered a U.S. naval blockade of

Iraq, an act of war, to deprive the Iraqi people of needed supplies;

froze funds of Iraq and forced other nations to do so, depriving Iraq of the

ability to purchase needed medicines, food and other supplies;

controlled information about the urgent need for such supplies to prevent

sickness, death and threatened epidemic, endangering the whole society;

prevented international organizations, governments and relief agencies from

providing needed supplies and obtaining information concerning needs;

failed to assist or meet urgent needs of huge refugee populations including

Egyptians, Indians, Pakistanis, Yemenis, Sudanese, Jordanians, Palestinians, Sri

Lankans, Filipinos, and interfered with efforts of others to do so;

consistently diverted attention from health and epidemic threats within Iraq

caused by the U.S. even after advertising the plight of Kurdish people on the

Turkish border;

deliberately bombed the electrical grids causing the closure of hospitals and

laboratories, loss of medicine and essential fluids and blood; and

deliberately bombed food storage, fertilizer, and seed storage facilities.

As a result of these acts, thousands of people died, many more suffered illness and

permanent injury. As a single illustration, Iraq consumed infant milk formula at a rate of

2,500 tons per month during the first seven months of 1990. From November 1, 1990,

to February 7, 1991, Iraq was able to import only 17 tons. Its own productive

capacity was destroyed. Many Iraqis believed that President Bush intended that their

infants die because he targeted their food supply. The Red Crescent Society of Iraq

estimated 3,000 infant deaths as of February 7, 1991, resulting from infant milk formula

and infant medication shortages.

This conduct violates the Hague and Geneva Conventions, the Universal Declaration of

Human Rights and other covenants and constitutes a crime against humanity.

15. The United States continued its assault on Iraq after the cease

fire, invading and occupying areas at will.

The United States has acted with dictatorial authority over Iraq and its external

relations since the end of the military conflict. It has shot and killed Iraqi military

personnel, destroyed aircraft and materiel at will, occupied vast areas of Iraq in the

north and south and consistently threatened use of force against Iraq.

This conduct violates the sovereignty of a nation, exceeds authority in UN resolutions,

is unauthorized by the Constitution and laws of the United States, and constitutes war

crimes.

16. The United States has violated and condoned violations of

human rights, civil liberties and the U.S. Bill of Rights in the

United States, in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and elsewhere to achieve

its purpose of military domination.

Among the many violations committed or condoned by the U.S. government are the

following:

illegal surveillance, arrest, interrogation and harassment of Arab‑American,

Iraqi‑American, and U.S. resident Arabs;

illegal detention, interrogation and treatment of Iraqi prisoners of war;

aiding and condoning Kuwaiti summary executions, assaults, torture and illegal

detention of Palestinians and other residents in Kuwait after the U.S. occupation;

and

unwarranted, discriminatory, and excessive prosecution and punishment of U.S.

military personnel who refused to serve in the Gulf, sought conscientious

objector status or protested U.S. policies.

Persons were killed, assaulted, tortured, illegally detained and prosecuted, harassed

and humiliated as a result of these policies.

The conduct violates the Charter of the United Nations, the Universal Declaration of

Human Rights , the Hague and Geneva Conventions and the Constitution and laws of

the United States.

17. The United States, having destroyed Iraq's economic base,

demands reparations which will permanently impoverish Iraq and

threaten its people with famine and epidemic.

Having destroyed lives, property and essential civilian facilities in Iraq which the U.S.

concedes will require $50 billion to replace (estimated at $200 billion by Iraq, killed at

least 125,000 people by bombing and many thousands more by sickness and hunger,

the U.S. now seeks to control Iraq economically even as its people face famine and

epidemic.[l1] Damages, including casualties in Iraq, systematically inflicted by the U.S.

exceed all damages, casualties and costs of all other parties to the conflict combined

many times over. Reparations under these conditions are an exaction of tribute for the

conqueror from a desperately needy country. The United States seeks to force Iraq to

pay for damage to Kuwait largely caused by the U.S. and even to pay U.S. costs for

its violations of Iraqi sovereignty in occupying northern Iraq to further manipulate the

Kurdish population there. Such reparations are a neocolonial means of expropriating

Iraq's oil, natural resources, and human labor.

The conduct violates the Charter of the United Nations and the Constitution and laws

of the United States.

18. President Bush systematically manipulated, controlled,

directed, misinformed and restricted press and media coverage to

obtain constant support in the media for his military and political

goals.

The Bush Administration achieved a five‑month‑long commercial for militarism and

individual weapons systems. The American people were seduced into the celebration

of a slaughter by controlled propaganda demonizing Iraq, assuring the world no harm

would come to Iraqi civilians, deliberately spreading false stories of atrocities including

chemical warfare threats, deaths of incubator babies and threats to the entire region by

a new Hitler.

The press received virtually all its information from or by permission of the Pentagon.

Efforts were made to prevent any adverse information or opposition views from being

heard. CNN's limited presence in Baghdad was described as Iraqi propaganda.

Independent observers, eyewitnesses' photos, and video tapes with information about

the effects of the U.S. bombing were excluded from the media. Television network

ownership, advertizers, newspaper ownership, elite columnists and commentators

intimidated and instructed reporters and selected interviewees. They formed a

near‑single voice of praise for U.S. militarism, often exceeding the Pentagon in

bellicosity.

The American people and their democratic institutions were deprived of information

essential to sound judgment and were regimented, despite profound concem, to

support a major neocolonial intervention and war of aggression. The principal purpose

of the First Amendment to the United States was to assure the press and the people

the right to criticize their government with impunity. This purpose has been effectively

destroyed in relation to U.S. military aggression since the press was denied access to

assaults on Grenada, Libya, Panama and, now on a much greater scale, against Iraq.

This conduct violates the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States and

is part of a pattern of conduct intended to create support for conduct constituting

crimes against peace and war crimes.

19. The United States has by force secured a permanent military

presence in the Gulf, the control of its oil resources and

geopolitical domination of the Arabian Peninsula and Gulf region.

The U.S. has committed the acts described in this complaint to create a permanent

U.S. military presence in the Persian Gulf, to dominate its oil resources until depleted

and to maintain geopolitical domination over the region.

The conduct violates the Charter of the United Nations, international law, and the

Constitution and laws of the United States.

Scope of the Inquiry

The Commission of Inquiry will focus on U.S. criminal conduct because of its

destruction of Iraq, killing at least 125,000 persons directly by its bombing while

proclaiming its own combat losses as 148, because it destroyed the economic base of

Iraq and because its acts are still inflicting consequential deaths that may reach

hundreds of thousands. The Commission of Inquiry will seek and accept evidence of

criminal acts by any person or government, related to the Gulf conflict, because it

believes international law must be applied uniformly. It believes that "victors' justice" is

not law, but the extension of war by force of the prevailing party. The U.S. Senate,

European Community foreign ministers, and the western press, even former

Nuremberg prosecutors, have overwhelmingly called for war crimes trials for Saddam

Hussein and the Iraqi leadership alone. Even Mrs. Barbara Bush has said she would

like to see Saddam Hussein hanged, albeit without mentioning a trial. Comprehensive

efforts to gather and evaluate evidence, objectively judge all the conduct that

constitutes crimes against peace and war crimes and to present these facts for

judgment to the court of world opinion requires that at least one major effort focus on

the United States. The Commission of Inquiry believes its focus on U.S. criminal acts is

important, proper, and the only way to bring the whole truth, a balanced perspective

and impartiality in application of legal process to this great human tragedy.

Ramsey Clark

May 9, 1991

Final Judgement: International War Crimes Tribunal

The Basis in International Law

Testimony and Evidence

International Law

Notes

1.Covert Operations: The Persian Gulf and the New World

Order (Washington, DC: Christic Institute, 1991).

2.Rhodri Jeffreys‑Jones, The CIA and American Democracy (New

Haven: Yale University Press, 1989), p. 206.

3.Independent Commission of Inquiry on the U.S. Invasion of

Panama, The U.S. Invasion of Panama: The Truth Behind

Operation Just Cause(Boston: South End Press, 1990).

4.Amnesty International Reports, 1991, pp. 122‑124.

5.Congressional Record, June 12, 1990, S8605.

6."Saddam's Oil Plot." London Observer, October 21, 1990.

7.Rick Atkinson, "U.S. to Rely on Air Strikes if War Erupts,"

Washington Post, September 16, 1990: Al + . Eric Schmitt,

"Ousted General Gets A Break," New York Times, November 7,

1991: Al9.

8.Joint WHO / UNICEF Team Report: A Visit to Iraq (New

York: United Nations, 1991). A report to the Secretary General,

dated March 20, 1991 by representatives of the U.N. Secretariat,

UNICEF, UNDP, UNDRO, UNHCR, FAO and WHO.

9.Patrick E. Tyler, "Powell Says U.S. Will Stay In Iraq," New York

Times, March 23, 1991: Al + .

10.Patrick J. Sloyan, "Massive Battle After Cease Fire," New York

Newsday, May 8, 1991: A4+.

11."U.S. Prepares UN Draft on Claims Against Iraq," New York

Times, November 1, 1990.

Final Judgement: International War Crimes Tribunal

The Basis in International Law

Testimony and Evidence

International Law

Index

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