the new cold[warm]war, page-10

Grant,

International Law Principles:-

1. The U.N. Charter prohibits the use of force except in matters of self-defense. Article 2(4) and Article 51.

A country is not permitted to use military force for purposes of retaliation, vengeance, and punishment. In other words, unless a future attack on the United States is imminent, it cannot use military force. This means that even if the United States furnishes evidence as to the authors of the September 11 attack it cannot use military force against them under international law.

To this extent the congressional resolution authorizing the President to use force against the perpetrators of the attack on September 11 is a violation of international law. Instead, the U.S. must employ other means including extradition, and resolutions of the Security Council, which could eventually authorize the use of force to effectuate the arrest of suspects.

The United States argues that the attack on September 11 was an armed attack on the United States and that it has the right to use self-defense against that attack. Even though the attack is over, it presumably would claim that those who initiated the attack were responsible for prior attacks and are planning such attacks in the future. At the same time, President Bush has stated that the “war” on terrorism would be lengthy, implying that it would go on for years.

In order to rely on this self-defense claim the U.S. would need to present evidence to the Security Council not only as to the perpetrators of the September 11 attack, but evidence that future attacks are planned and imminent. They have not yet done so. Even if the U.S. can put forth a legitimate self-defense claim, it is still to the U.N. Security Council where they ought to turn.

2. The US describes the attack on WTC as an act of war, justifying the "War on Terror" and invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq. If this is the case then surely the people who carried out the WTC attack were merely soldiers engaged in a (admittedly undeclared but are they not all undeclared these days) war. So surely they and their backers would be afforded the rights of the Geneva Convention??