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Legality of War

Authored by Michael Pate on May 8th, 2003 at 12:41 AM

Jeremy Hedley pointed to Gary Santoro who says: I’ve done some fact checking on a legal analysis I made of the war on Iraq. My position was that this war violated US law according to Article 231 of the Treaty of Versailles (1919). While the US played a large part in drafting the treaty, the Congress, with a Republican majority, refused to ratify it. Therefore it did not become the law of the land under the Constitution.

My question is, what kind of fact-checking does it take to know the Senate did not ratify the Treaty of Versailles? It is considered one of the biggest Presidential diplomatic defeats in history for Woodrow Wilson. By refusing to ratify it, the United States also declined membership in the League of Nations. And some point to it as a cause of World War II. I think I first learned about it in a history class around 8th grade. Gary might want to check what other basic historical facts his teachers forgot to tell him about.

Links in this entry:

I've done some fact checking
Mediaburn on the Legality of Gulf War II
Reservations drawn up by Republican Senators to the Treaty of Peace with Germany, November 1919.
The Legacy of Versailles
Verdicts on the Treaty of Versailles
Why the League of Nations Failed
Woodrow Wilson and the Fourteen Points

Comments

Just curious about your opinions of Article 231. Legal judgement was issued against Germany for pre-emptive warfare and aggression. The US did not levy it, other countries did. Do you think this Article caused World War II? Was it wrong to issue such a legal judgement against Germany?

Authored by Gary Santoro on May 9, 2003 at 4:10 PM

The ultimate responsibility for World War II lies with Adolf Hitler. His seeking to impose the Thousand Year Reich on the rest of the world, and his alliance with Japan and Italy, forced most countries to take a stand.

But did Article 231 bring about the conditions that enable Hitler to come to power? I have always believed they did. The economic turmoil that resulted in Germany created an environment where National Socialism could develop. Unfortunately, much the same thing is going on in places like the Middle East today. Extremism tends to be a reaction to hopelessness.

Authored by Michael on May 9, 2003 at 9:42 PM

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