Will Jack Straw prosecute himself under war criminals law?

UK justice secretary Jack Straw proposes prosecutions against British nationals and residents accused of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. Will he begin by prosecuting himself?

New powers to prosecute war criminals living in Britain have been unveiled by the justice secretary, Jack Straw. He proposes prosecutions against British nationals and residents accused of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. Straw says the law will send a clear signal that Britain will no longer be a safe haven for those who commit such crimes. Will he begin by considering the case against himself?

As the Minister in charge of foreign affairs the war with Iraq was Jack Straw’s responsibility. Jack Straw supported the Prime Minister and urged members of Parliament to vote in favour of war when he used the following words in closing the debate in Parliament on March 18th 2003.

"But as elected Members of Parliament, we all know that we will be judged not only on our intentions, but on the results, the consequences of our decisions... Yes of course there will be consequences if the House approves the Government’s motion. Our forces will almost certainly be involved in military action. Some may be killed; so too, will innocent Iraqi civilians... I urge the House to vote with the Government tonight."

This statement provides clear evidence that Jack Straw knew perfectly well that Britain’s armed forces were about to kill innocent Iraqi civilians. It shows beyond doubt that he knew what he was doing and that he intended to destroy part of the Iraqi national group thereby proving that he was setting out to commit the crime of genocide of the Iraqi people.

It also provides clear evidence of conspiracy to murder. By urging members of Parliament to vote in favour of an armed attack on Iraq, Jack Straw was instrumental in persuading enough members of Parliament to vote in favour of war to obtain a government majority.

If Parliament had upheld international law and voted against the war Britain would not have joined the Coalition and the killings would not have taken place.

As the crimes did take place and the evidence for all the elements of the crime of genocide are present, Jack Straw should be arrested and charged with genocide and a crime against humanity. He should also face charges of incitement to murder and conspiracy to murder.

He would be joined in the dock by arch war criminal Tony Blair, who took Britain into five wars; Lord Goldsmith, the country's senior law officer in 2003, who doctored his legal advice to justify a war he knew full well violated international law; Gordon Brown, who unreservedly supported Blair's warmongering; Alistair Campbell, the author of the "dodgy" dossier which stated that Iraq could deploy weapons of mass destruction "within 45 minutes"; and many more listed by the Make Wars History website.

If the inquiry into the Iraq war, which is about to begin, had any teeth and was a genuine attempt to establish the truth of why Britain joined George Bush's war, which has slaughtered over one million Iraqi civilians, the first war criminal to be indicted under Jack Straw's new law would be himself.