Kicking Ass in Afghanistan

By Francis A. Boyle, 6 April 2004

From Richard Clarke, Against All Enemies, page 24:

“When, later in the discussion {on the evening of Sept. 11, with Bush and his crisis advisors}, Secretary Rumsfeld noted that international law allowed the use of force only to prevent future attacks and not for retribution, Bush nearly bit his head off. “No,” the President yelled in the narrow conference room, ‘I don't care what the international lawyers say, we are going to kick some ass.’ “

Notice that Rumsfeld was correct in his opinion: International law only permits the use of force in self-defense, not for retribution; and retribution is never self-defense. In addition, Rumsfeld clearly advised Bush and his top advisers that a war against Afghanistan for retribution would be illegal. But Bush made is quite clear that he knew his war against Afghanistan would be illegal, that he did not care about international law and international lawyers, and that his primary motivation for going to war was to kick some asses of Muslims/Asians of Color in Afghanistan. So much for the putative legality of the Bush war against Afghanistan. It is yet another US racist war of aggression against People of Color in a Third World Country.

And so much for those shameless legal apologists of the Bush Jr. war of aggression against Afghanistan. They just wanted to kick some ass too—so long as it was Muslims/Asians of Color. They are just a gang of bigots, racists, and war-mongers.

Francis A. Boyle
Francis A. Boyle, Law Building 504, E. Pennsylvania Ave. Champaign, IL 61820