Iraq war botched and illegal

Linda McQuaig offers a succinct and dead-on analysis of what passes for an "anti-war" position on the American occupation of Iraq. It's encouraging to see some discussion of the fact that 'criticism' of the war in most mainstream media outlets never goes beyond lamenting the loss of American lives and dollars. It really is sad that there is no prominent serious discussion of whether or not it's right to invade another country - just whether or not they can get away with it.

Sure, there's lots of criticism of the Bush administration for poor war planning, and for squandering U.S. lives and "treasure."
All this is true, but it skirts a more fundamental problem – one that was barely mentioned in all the fifth-year anniversary commentaries last week – that the invasion was a war of aggression carried out in defiance of international law.
This is not a mere technicality. According to the Nuremberg Tribunal, set up by the Allies after World War II: "War is essentially an evil thing ... To initiate a war of aggression, therefore, is not only an international crime; it is the supreme international crime."