The Iraq War: Civil and Military Analysis

The War in Iraq: A legal Analysis from the International Law Review of the Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island was released during the tenure of Professor Robert Rubel, Dean of the Center for Naval Warfare Studies and Professor Dennis L. Mandsager, the Chairman of the International Law Department. The release began with a tribute to Professor Howard S. Levie by Professor Jack Grunewalt. The impressive conference which it illumines was prepared by Commander Eric Hunt from the JAG unit that supports the International Law Department. A host of scholars contributed to this publication.

Few of the issues dealt with in this treatise have been made totally clear to the people of the United States for a number of reasons. Firstly, the material does not easily lend itself to brief summarization. There are no commercial rewards in presenting the material in a condensed form. Finally, some of the information has continued to be contested despite the veracity of the best summaries the people of the United States have received. The lingering trauma suffered by some of the 26,000 detainees held during military operations in Iraq continued to create denials and accusations in courtrooms after military operations ended, and sometimes those arguments resurface.

Major General Michael L. Oates discussed the military aspects of Operation Iraqi Freedom. The early successes on the ground unsurprisingly did not bring a quick victory. Our strategy transitioned from a war of combating armed soldiers to a conflict involving the people of the region. Our solutions to assist the people in the region initially focused on providing essential services. As the urban situation changed the principles of engagement shifted to comforting and appeasing a citizenry outraged by the horrific violence of the war under the command of General Petraeus. The General's overall explanation of the maneuvers were extremely concise and objective. This objective interpretation of that prepared statement respects the integrity of that dignified presentation.

Major General Charles Dunlap, of the US Air Force, a friend of a decorated veteran who once parachuted into enemy territory in an information sensitive mission, opened the second panel which the International Law Review released. He discussed super-precise guided ballistic technology and the application of detailed battlefield intelligence with regard to casualties. The use of guided weapons systems in the field reduces the margin of error dramatically, but the possibility of unwanted death can never be removed from a wartime situation. The law of armed conflict and the treatment of civilians codified in great detail in the Hague and Geneva Conventions crosses over into foggy area in urban combat. Marc Warren covered those issues and others in the chapter entitled The "Fog of Law:" The Law of Armed Conflict in Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Brigadier General Clyde Tate, US Army, vocalized a point that the public needs to know very clearly. As occupiers in Iraq during the war we had a very clear duty to uphold the rule of law. Current events do not figure into this historical consideration. Violation of that duty and responsibility, misconduct on the part of our soldiers, as pertained to the population in the occupied territory always resulted in investigation. The standards of conduct and the honor of our armed forces never falters under the chain of command. Any and all historical perspectives outside of that sphere do not involve this entry. Continuing from that basis, once the geographic center of government in Baghdad had been secured the way was paved for a change in the overall legal regime. That procedure was quite distinct from simply toppling the highest figures of the Iraq ruling party.