Published on Portside (https://portside.org)
Former US Attorney General Files Brief in Federal Lawsuit Challenging
Legality of Iraq War
Thursday, June 4, 2015
USLAW
San Francisco, Calif. -- An Iraqi single mother has assembled an
international team of lawyers who are now asking the United States Court of
Appeal for the Ninth Circuit to hear her claim that the Iraq War was illegal
under laws set down at the Nuremberg Trials, which govern when and how a
country can go to war.
Sundus Shaker Saleh, through her pro bono counsel Comar Law, filed papers
last Wednesday, May 27, 2015 urging the Ninth Circuit to review facts and
statements made by high-ranking Bush Administration officials—including former
President George W. Bush, former Vice President Richard Cheney, and former
Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld—in the run-up to the Iraq War.
On Tuesday, June 2, 2015, an international group of lawyers—including
former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark—filed an amicus brief in support of
her claims. Amicus briefs allow parties who have strong interest in a case’s
subject matter, but are not directly involved, to advise the court of further
relevant information or additional arguments.
This high-profile amicus filing marks a turning point in Saleh’s lawsuit,
affirming its potential as a watershed for standards of accountability for
political leaders.
The Planethood Foundation, a nonprofit established by the last living
Nuremberg prosecutor, Benjamin Ferencz, also filed an amicus brief.
"Ms. Saleh alleges that the Iraq War constituted aggression as defined
by the Nuremberg Trials in 1946. She is asking the Ninth Circuit to review the
holdings of Nuremberg, which it can do, and to apply that law to the facts
leading up to the war. She is convinced, as am I, that under Nuremberg, these
officials broke domestic and international law in planning and waging the Iraq
War," said Saleh's lawyer, D. Inder Comar.
The international military tribunal at Nuremberg, convened in large part by
the United States following World War II, declared international aggression the
"supreme international crime" and convicted German leaders of waging
illegal wars.
Saleh’s case alleges that George W. Bush, Richard Cheney, Colin Powell,
Condoleezza Rice, Donald Rumsfeld and Paul Wolfowitz committed aggression in
planning and waging the Iraq War. Specifically, the lawsuit claims that high-ranking
Bush officials used the fear of 9/11 to mislead the American public into
supporting a war against Iraq, and that they knowingly issued false statements
that Iraq was in league with Al-Qaeda and had weapons of mass destruction.
In December 2014, the Northern District of California dismissed the
lawsuit, claiming that former Bush Administration officials were immune from a
civil suit via the federal Westfall Act. Saleh is also requesting that the
Ninth Circuit overturn the federal district court's finding of immunity.
"Nuremberg held that domestic immunity was not a defense to
allegations of international aggression. Everything the Germans did was legal
under their law. We are asking the Ninth Circuit to reject the application of
domestic immunity in this case, in line with the holdings of Nuremberg,"
Comar said.
Saleh’s opening brief before the Ninth Circuit can be found at http://witnessiraq.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/AOB-Brief-Only-Final.pdf
[2]
The International Lawyer’s Amicus Brief, which includes former US Attorney
General Ramsey Clark and several other signatories, can be found at
The brief by the Planethood Foundation can be found at
Inder comar, Legal Director
Comar Law Firm
Links:
[1] http://witnessiraq.com
[2] http://witnessiraq.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/AOB-Brief-Only-Final.pdf
[3] http://witnessiraq.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Amicus-Brief-Lawyers-for-International-Law.pdf
[4] http://witnessiraq.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Planet-Foundation-Amicus.pdf
[5] https://youtu.be/OczTHL26mAg
[1] http://witnessiraq.com
[2] http://witnessiraq.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/AOB-Brief-Only-Final.pdf
[3] http://witnessiraq.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Amicus-Brief-Lawyers-for-International-Law.pdf
[4] http://witnessiraq.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Planet-Foundation-Amicus.pdf
[5] https://youtu.be/OczTHL26mAg
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"The master class
has always declared the wars; the subject class has always fought the battles.
The master class has had all to gain and nothing to lose, while the subject
class has had nothing to gain and everything to lose--especially their lives."
Eugene Victor Debs
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