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War in Iraq: Is Germany's Schroeder guilty of war-mongering?


Tom Grey, who supports US action in Iraq, reports that "A suit was filed claiming that Germany's Schroeder was guilty of war-mongering. One of the interesting aspects was the question of whether the US attack is an "attack war". The answer below (in German) indicates no (not my analysis). The Attorney General swatted down the lawsuit. See http://www.presseportal.de/story.htx?nr=431233. The essence is that

  1. Iraq didn't obey the UN resolutions. Resolutions 660 and 678 from 1990 allow the use of "all means necessary" to keep Iraq on track.
  2. Germany's current actions are within the limits of NATO aid and there's no sign of Germany attacking any one.
  3. The term "attack war" has never been properly defined by national or international jurisdiction. There have been attempts that date back to World War II (Nuremberg trials) and some in more recent times (there is a long list of various legal definitions of "attack war"). The Attorney General stated that the constitutional article as well as criminal law are solely to keep Germany from starting a war.

So basically the General Attorney confirms that the US attacks can't be considered an "attack war", and Schroeder & his fellow politicians need to rethink a thing or two. RH: It sounds as though this odd lawsuit was brought by a pacifist. Exactly what aid is Germany giving to the Iraq invasion? How can the US attack not be considered an "attack war"? What was the general German reaction to this ruling?

Ronald Hilton - 3/22/03


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