Against War with Iraq: An Anti-War Primer Format: Paperback

Despite public outcry at home and international opposition abroad, the Bush Administration deployed troops and invested millions in preparation for a massive military assault on Iraq. In Against War With Iraq, three legal scholars from the Center for Constitutional Rights argue persuasively that the war against Iraq is both unnecessary for national security and illegal.

Michael Ratner, Jennie Green, and Barbara Olshansky expose the Bush administration's justifications as pretexts, demonstrate that there is little evidence that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction, and argue that inspections were adequate to deal with any possible covert Iraq weapons program. The writers also emphasize that a war with Iraq made the world less safe, the region less stable, and that we in the United States would likely face more terrorism on our own soil as a result. Underlying the Bush administration's drive for war was its desire to dominate the Middle East, control Iraqi oil, and insure United States dominance for many years to come.

Olshansky provides a clear explanation of the meaning of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1441 and describes why that resolution did not authorize the U.S. to launch a new war. It explains that the Bush administration's doctrine of preemptive strikes is flatly contrary to international law and may, if carried out, constitute a war crime.

MICHAEL RATNER is the President of the Center for Constitutional Rights.
JENNIE GREEN, Staff Attorney at the Center for Constitutional Rights, specializes in international human rights legal actions, primarily lawsuits in U.S. courts against human rights violators.
BARBARA OLSHANSKY is the Leah Kaplan Distinguished Professor in Human Rights at Stanford University. Previously, she was deputy legal director for the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) and director counsel of the Guantánamo Global Justice Initiative.