MIDDLE EAST - The Never-Ending War, Violation of International Law

My answer, YES, BOTH DID!

"Are Israel and Hamas violating international laws of war?" PBS NewsHour 7/31/2014

Excerpt

JUDY WOODRUFF (Newshour):  With the late-breaking news of a humanitarian cease-fire due to take effect within hours, we return now to the ongoing battle between Hamas and Israel and questions being raised about whether either side is violating the laws of war.

Joining us are retired Lieutenant Colonel Gary Solis.  He had a 26-year career in the Marine Corps, served two tours in Vietnam and became a military lawyer and judge.  He’s now on the faculty at both George Washington and Georgetown University law schools.  And retired Lieutenant Colonel Geoffrey Corn, he had a 22-year career in the Army, where he served as a lawyer.  He’s now a professor at South Texas College of Law in Houston.

And we welcome you both to the NewsHour.

To you first, Colonel Corn. We want to talk about both sides in this conflict.  Let’s start with Hamas.  What is it that you believe Hamas is doing that violates international law?

LT. COL. GEOFFREY CORN (RET.), South Texas College of Law:  Well, I think the two most obvious examples are the deliberate attack on civilian population centers, with apparently no effort to target specific military targets in Israel.

Just firing missiles in the direction of Israeli population centers is a clear violation of the law.  And the other is locating their vital military assets within the midst of the civilian population in an apparent attempt to make it more difficult for the Israeli Defense Forces to target those assets, which is also a clear violation of the law.

JUDY WOODRUFF:  And what international law are you referring to?

LT. COL. GEOFFREY CORN:  Well, the international law that I’m referring to — and I’m sure my friend Gary will refer to — we call the law of war, or it’s often called international humanitarian law.

And it’s one of the oldest bodies of international law.  Many of these rules are codified in treaties that are binding on nations throughout the world, including the Israelis.  And even the rules that are not applicable as a matter of treaty law, apply to all parties to a conflict as a matter of what we call customary international law.

OPINION - Rendition Program, Ex-CIA Agents, and Italian Law

The Rachel Maddow Show
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EGYPT - 19 Americans, and Others, To Be Tried

"Egypt Defies U.S. by Setting Trial for 19 Americans on Criminal Charges" by DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK, New York Times 2/5/2012

Excerpt

Egypt’s military-led government said Sunday that it would put 19 Americans and two dozen others on trial in a politically charged criminal investigation into the foreign financing of nonprofit groups that has shaken the 30-year alliance between the United States and Egypt.

The decision raises tensions between the two allies to a new peak at a decisive moment in Egypt’s political transition after the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak a year ago. Angry protesters are battling security forces in the streets of the capital and other major cities. The economy is in urgent need of billions of dollars in foreign aid. And the military rulers are in the final stages of negotiations with the Islamists who dominate the new Parliament over the terms of a transfer of power that could set the country’s course for decades.

The criminal prosecution is a rebuke to Washington in the face of increasingly stern warnings to Egypt’s ruling generals from President Obama, cabinet officials and senior Congressional leaders that it could jeopardize $1.55 billion in expected American aid this year, including $1.3 billion for the military. But for Washington, revoking the aid would risk severing the tie that for three decades has bound the United States, Egypt and Israel in an uneasy alliance that is the cornerstone of the American-backed regional order.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said she had personally warned the Egyptian foreign minister, Mohammed Amr, at a security conference in Munich on Saturday that the continuing investigation of the nonprofit groups cast new doubt on the aid. “We are very clear that there are problems that arise from this situation that can impact all the rest of our relationship with Egypt,” she told reporters there.

Mr. Obama delivered a similar warning to Egypt’s acting chief executive, Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, less than two weeks ago. Last week, 40 members of Congress signed letters to Field Marshal Tantawi making the same threat. “The days of blank checks are over,” Senator Patrick J. Leahy of Vermont, the Democrat who chairs the spending panel overseeing the aid, said in a speech from the Senate floor on Friday.

Congress recently required the State Department to certify that Egypt is making progress toward democracy before aid can be disbursed. Lawmakers and administration officials say the crackdown on the civil society groups could violate the criteria set out in the law.

The prosecution could hardly have been better designed to provoke an American backlash. Although the charges against the 19 Americans are part of a broader crackdown on as many as nine nonprofit groups here, its most prominent targets are two American-financed groups with close ties to the Congressional leadership, the National Democratic Institute and the International Republican Institute. Both are chartered to promote democracy abroad with nonpartisan training and election monitoring.

The Americans facing criminal charges include Sam LaHood, director of the Republican Institute’s Egypt operations. He is the son of Ray LaHood, the secretary of transportation and a former Republican congressman from Illinois.

Egyptian Foreign Ministry officials have said the prosecution is a judicial matter outside their control. But the government, including the prosecutors, is under the direct authority of the military council. The investigation has also been accompanied by an escalating drumbeat of anti-American statements from Egypt’s government suggesting that Washington has been handing out cash to stir unrest in the streets. Some state news media, citing unnamed sources, have reported that one of the foreign-financed organizations paid illiterate laborers to join protests.

IRAN - British Embassy Stormed

"Iran students storm U.K. Embassy in Tehran" AP, CBS News 11/29/2011

Excerpt

Hard-line Iranian students stormed the British diplomatic compounds in Tehran on Tuesday, bringing down the Union Jack flag and throwing documents from windows in scenes reminiscent of the anger against Western powers after the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

The mob surged past riot police into British Embassy compound two days after Iran's parliament approved a bill that reduces diplomatic relations with Britain following London's support of recently upgraded Western sanctions on Tehran over its disputed nuclear program.

Less than two hours later, police appeared to regain control of the site. But the official IRNA news agency said about 300 protesters entered the British ambassador's residence in another part of the city and replaced British flags with Iranian ones.The British Foreign Office harshly denounced the melee and said Iran has a "clear duty" under international law to protect diplomats and offices.

"We are outraged by this," said the statement. "It is utterly unacceptable and we condemn it."

It said a "significant number" of protesters entered the compound and caused vandalism, but gave no other details on damage or whether diplomatic staff was inside the embassy, although the storming occurred after business hours.

The semiofficial Mehr news agency said embassy staff had left the compound before the mobs entered.

Western governments should realize that according to Iranian doctrine we are Satan, therefore they have an obligation to ignore International Law.