Legal review on the book

“An Ordinary Person’s

Guide To Empire”
By
Arundhati Roy

Submitted to:

Shakil Huda Submitted by:

Professor Manon Muhtasin Rahman (036)

Institute of Business Administration Nafis Sadik (039)

University of Dhaka
 About the Book

“The Ordinary Person's Guide To Empire’’ by Arundhati Roy is a collection of essays, articles
and speeches that meticulously covers topics such as the United States' war on terror, the impact
of globalization, the value of resistance movements, and other issues that challenge democracy.

This book is a collection of fourteen essays which were first delivered as speeches between June
2002 and November 2004.In the book Roy talks about new imperialism and fabricates a blue
print of Iraq’s invasion by America .Through her writing Roy provides us with articulate and
compelling arguments that enables us with clear conception about different facets of empire,
brutality, imperialism, neoliberal capitalism, corporate globalization, racism, compassionate
conservativism, war on terror and state terrorism .Though the book doesn’t have specific start or
end ; the essays weave together seemingly unconnected topics, which finally disclose the United
States’ disastrous war on terror. Though the book covers a wide range of topics, the author's
main focus is on Bush Junior's disastrous invasion of Iraq. The author also discusses about how
America managed to oust Saddam Hussein by uncovering the weapon of mass destruction
(WMD). The author constantly reminds us that America and its allies initially supported Saddam
Hussein, but that as soon as he rebelled and invaded Kuwait, he was personified by them as an
evil incarnate, which demonstrates the shallowness of America's policies. Arundhati further
discusses about how America had an ulterior motive in the devastation of Iraq which was giving
trite corporations like Bechtel, Halliburton, and others the exclusive right to rebuild Iraq. And
this is where the empire aspect comes in, since today's empire is centered on corporations rather
than nations. Since the political parties of the first world are funded by these multinational
corporations, the poorer countries that depend on the first world countries are forced to allow
these economic behemoths to enter their economy. Disagreement would label them as
"investment unfriendly” which can lead to trade sanctions, ostracization and at worst an invasion.
The project of corporate globalization has shattered democracy to its core. Free elections, a free
press, and an independent judiciary have all been reduced to puppets. In addition to observing
problems; Roy emphasizes on non-violent solutions such as Boycotts, citizen protests, civil
disobedience. She believes that the fight should be more than symbolic; it should strike at the
empire's heart, which is profit maximization.

The Gulf War of 1991

The background of the gulf war and its repercussions have been discuss sporadically throughout
various sections of the book. The author from her point of view tried to analyze and project the
true scenario of the war and how things progressed during the war consecutively. Here we’ll
analyze the key points and legal justifications of the gulf war subsequently.

“Come September”

The chapter discusses about how equation between Saddam Hossain and his closest allies
America and United Kingdom changed after Saddam Hossain invaded Kuwait in August, 1990.
The US government accused Saddam Hussein of being a war criminal, a cruel military despot
who committed genocide against his own people. He was also accused of razing hundreds of
villages in northern Iraq and using of chemical weapons and machine guns to kill thousands of
Kurdish people back in 1988. But it was also discussed in the chapter how the US government
provided him with $500 million in subsidies to buy American agricultural products the same and
the next year, after he had successfully completed his genocidal campaign, the US government
doubled its subsidy to one billion dollars. But as he disobeyed the US government later; On 11
September 1990, US president made a speech to a joint session of congress announcing his
government decision to go to war against Iraq which lead to the first allied attack on Iraq on
January 1991.

During the Operation Desert Storm in 1991, Iraq’s fields were bombed with more than 300 tons
of depleted Uranium which caused a 4x increase in cancer among children. For more than
thirteen years, 24 million Iraqi people have lived in a war zone and been denied access to
medicine and clean water (Peace and The New Corporate Liberation Theology)

Legal Analysis:

There were serious violations of international law in 1991’s invasion of Iraq by US.
There are legal and binding international instruments regarding war under which the parties to
them are accountable for their actions. These include
1. The Charter of the Nuremburg tribunal,
2. The Geneva Conventions and Protocols - designed to protect the victims of war 
3. Hague Conventions (1899 and 1907) - set out the rules for conducting war
4. The UN Charter,
5. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948)
6. The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR)

These charters and conventions contain prohibitions against inflicting harm on civilian
populations, prohibitions against acts or threats of violence against civilian populations, against
starvation of civilians as a method of warfare, against attacking or destroying installations
indispensable to the survival of the civilian population, against attacking installations which have
the potential of releasing dangerous substance into the environment, against means of warfare
which may cause damage to the natural environment and thereby prejudice the health or survival
of the population, and against the use of excessive force.
International laws regarding the protection and basic rights of specific population are included in
1. The 1974 General Assembly Declaration on the Protection of Women and Children in
Emergency and Armed Conflicts
2. The 1990 Declaration of the World Summit on Children.

We think that the US and ‘allied’ forces have violated all of the above stated prohibitions in the
bombing of Iraq. If we hold Iraq accountable for its invitation of Kuwait, the new must also hold
the US accountable for its invasion Iraq, and for violations of international law in Child during
the war.
 Transition from the Gulf war to The Iraq War
Roy discusses elaborately how equations changed drastically between America and Iraq over the
invasion of Kuwait. The gulf war was the first repercussion of the changing equation which took
a whole new turn after the 9/11 incident. The US government blamed Saddam Hossain’s Iraqi
government for the incident and claimed they were behind the funding of Al Qaeda. This
resulted in the invasion of Iraq by America and the repercussions afterwards. Here we’ll be
discussing about the initiation of the war from the author’s perspective, America’s justification
for the war and its legality on the basis of international law.

“The Loneliness of Noam Chomsky”

The chapter discusses about how free speech, free market and free world have little with
freedom. The chapter also discusses briefly the incident of 9/11 and how mainstream US media
displayed vengeful patriotism after that. In later part of the book it was discussed how according
to a New York Times/CBS News survey, 42 per cent of the American public believes that
Saddam Hussein is directly responsible for the 11 September attacks on the World Trade Centre
and the Pentagon and an ABC news poll says that 55 per cent of Americans believe that Saddam
Hussein directly supports the Al-Qaeda.

“Peace is War”

In this chapter the author discusses the importance of the "free media" in the corporate
globalization project. Roy describes how neoliberal capitalists have managed to subvert
democracy .This chapter also briefly talks about how America used the hoax of Iraq’s having
weapons of mass destruction (WMD) as a reasoning to justify its invasion. Possession of WMDs
was cited by the United States as the primary motivation instigating the war.

Legal Analysis:

In the early 2000s, the United States stated that Saddam Hussein's government was still
investigating chemical and WMD weapons and that Iraq had significant stockpiles of these
weapons. As a result, the United Nations Security Council passed Resolution 1441, requiring
Iraq to cooperate with UN and IAEA inspections "immediately, unconditionally, and actively."

Iraq signed the Geneva Protocol in (1931), the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in (1969), and
the Biological Weapons Convention in (1972), but did not ratify it until June 11, 1991.

Following the Gulf War in 1991, the United Nations Security Council passed Resolution 686,
which prohibited Iraq from acquiring, possessing, or using chemical, biological, or nuclear
weapons. However, Resolution 678 of the Security Council approved force against Iraq, which
was suspended but not ended by Resolution 687.which imposed continuing obligations on Iraq to
eliminate its weapons of mass destruction. The power to use force under Resolution 678 will be
reinstated if there was a substantive violation of Resolution 687. Following Resolution 687, the
Security Council passed thirteen more resolutions (699, 707, 715, 949, 1051, 1060, 1115, 1134,
1137, 1154, 1194, 1205, 1284) reaffirming the inspections' continuation or citing Iraq's failure to
fully comply with them.

In resolution 1441 the Security Council determined that Iraq was in material breach of resolution
687 because it had not fully carried out its obligations to disarm. But even after resolution 1441
there was no authorization for force as it was not declared by United Nations.

But America took advantage of the fact that article 1441 had no prohibition on military action
which eventually lead to the war. According to the US government, Iraq attacked the US and its
coalition partners by showing a demonstration of the assassination of former US president
George H.W. Bush in 1993. The Iraq army also violated the 1991 Gulf War ceasefire agreement
by firing on the coalition aircraft over the no-fly zones over Southern and Northern Iraq. As a
result, according to the UN charter article 51, the US reserved the right to defend itself even
without a mandate from the UN.

Domestic Law of America:

The United States Congress approved a bill with broad bipartisan majorities that authorized the
Use of Military Force against Iraq Resolution of 2002. The resolution asserts the authorization
by the Constitution of the United States and the United States Congress for the President to fight
anti-United States terrorism. Citing the Iraq Liberation Act of 1998. The resolution reiterated that
it should be the policy of the United States to remove the Saddam Hussein regime and promote a
democratic replacement. The resolution "sponsored" and "encouraged" President George W.
Bush's diplomatic efforts to "strictly implement all relevant Security Council resolutions
regarding Iraq through the United Nations Security Council" and "obtain timely and decisive
action by the Security Council to ensure that Iraq abandons its policy of delay, evasion, and
noncompliance and promptly and strictly complies with all relevant Security Council resolutions
related to Iraq. The resolution thus enabled President Bush the authority to use the US Armed
Forces as required to defend the US national security against the continuing threat posed by Iraq
while implementing all applicable UN Security Council Resolutions regarding Iraq.

The Iraq War

The Iraq war was the final outcome of the tension that had been brewing between the USA and
Iraq since the gulf war. In the book Roy carefully brings forth to us all the nuances that
eventually lead to the disastrous war. The author feels the sole purpose of the war was to take
control over the natural resources of Iraq about which she has discussed many a times throughout
the book. In the chapter An Ordinary Person’s Guide to Empire the author primarily discusses
about the war and how humanitarian rights and international laws were violated during the war.
 “An Ordinary Person’s Guide to Empire”

Roy tells us a few key details about the invasion and occupation of Iraq by American troops in
the chapter "An Ordinary Person's Guide to Empire." While Saddam Hussein was a tyrant, the
fact remains that the United States and the United Kingdom helped him during his military
excesses, including the annihilation of Kurds. It wasn't until he invaded Kuwait that he became a
liability. Bombing civilians is an example of America's barbarism toward Iraqi civilians. Roy
argues that the United States' policies of double standards lead to instability and
misunderstanding. She claims that America's unlawful occupation of Iraq was solely for the
purpose of obtaining the country's oil resources. Operation Iraqi freedom put the oil that belongs
to Iraqi people to the hands of greedy Corporations such as Shell/ Halliburton/ Chevron.

The invasion lead to serious violations to international laws and human rights. According to the
chapter, the siege of Bosra left a million and a half people (40% of it children) without clean
water and very little food, a market place was mistakenly blown away killing many, how More
than 5.4 billion USD of supplies were blocked Bush/Blair pair but a miniscule fraction of aid
was put into LIVE TV broadcast all day long. The author also talks about how economic
sanctions by America claimed the lives of more than half a million of children in Iraq.

Roy further sheds light to the bombing in Mesopotamia, Babylon and how its legacy was
insulted by this. The author further discusses the shallowness of the United States with how
When American soldiers were kidnapped and broadcast on Iraqi television, George Bush
declared it a violation of the Geneva Convention. But when the same thing happened to Iraqi
prisoners in Guantanamo Bay US television kept mum.

Legal Analysis:

The United Nations Charter is the foundation of modern international law. The UN Charter is
ratified by the US and its principal coalition allies who took part in the invasion of Iraq in
2003.USA is thus legally bounded to follow the terms of the charter. Article 2(4) of the UN
Charter generally bans the use of force by states except when carefully circumscribed conditions
are met, stating:
“All members shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against
the territorial integrity or political independence of any state, or in any other manner
inconsistent with the purposes of the United Nations.”

According to Article 51 of the UN Charter,

“Nothing in the present Charter  shall impair the inherent right of individual or collective self-
defense if an armed attack occurs against a Member of the United Nations, until the Security
Council has taken measures necessary to maintain international peace and security Measures
taken by Members in the exercise of this right of self-defense shall be immediately reported to
the Security Council and shall not in any way affect the authority and responsibility of the
Security Council under the present Charter to take at any time such action as it deems necessary
in order to maintain or restore international peace and security.”

The article 39 of the UN charter states that,

“The Security Council shall determine the existence of any threat to the peace, breach of the
peace, or act of aggression and shall make recommendations, or decide what measures shall be
taken in accordance with Articles 41 and 42, to maintain or restore international peace and
security.”

If we go through the above given articles of the UN charter we can see that the invasion of Iraq
doesn’t coherent with the articles of the charter which US ratified. In 2004, Kofi Annan, the
secretary general of the UN quoted about the invasion as follows,

"I have indicated it was not in conformity with the UN charter. From our point of view, from
the charter point of view, it was illegal."

The Geneva Convention (1949) contains certain provisions that specifically forbid intentional
or gratuitous damage to undefended cultural heritage by invading or occupying forces. It
prohibits Pillage: State Parties must act to prevent or, if it has commenced, to stop individual
pillage, and may not conduct or authorize organized pillage. Article 53 clearly forbids the
destruction of all property (real or personal), whether private or State, religious or other.
According to the article,

“Any destruction by the Occupying Power of real or personal property belonging individually or
collectively to private persons, or to the State, or to other public authorities, or to social or co-
operative organizations, is prohibited, except where such destruction is rendered absolutely
necessary by military operations.”

It is supplement by two further Protocols (1977) which contain important provisions relating
specifically to protection of cultural property. They:

 Prohibit attacks against cultural property.

 Prohibit the use of cultural property in support of the military effort.

 Prohibit to make cultural property the object of reprisal without exception for military
necessity.

In addition, Additional Protocol I confirms that cultural property falls within civilian objects as it
is not a military objective. Additional Protocol I then:

 Prohibits attacks on civilian population and civilian objects (such as cultural property),
restricting the lawful object of attack to military objectives.
 Narrows the definition of a military object.
 Outlaws excessive incidental harm to the civilian population and civilian objects.

Thus the bombing of Mesopotamia, Babylon violates the articles Geneva Convention mentioned
above.

Article 38(4) of the Convention on the Rights of the Child ensures the safety and rights of
children during war. The article states that,

“In accordance with their obligations under international humanitarian law to protect the
civilian population in armed conflicts, States Parties shall take all feasible measures to ensure
protection and care of children who are affected by an armed conflict.”

As the occupying state it was the responsibility of The U.S. government to ensure that the
population has physical and financial access to food and education. But from the scenario we get
to see from the book of how the children were treated during the war thus ensures that the
International Convention on the Rights of the Child was violated during the war between
America and Iraq.

Post-war Scenario
The author discusses elaborately the staggering scenario Iraq was going through post war. She
discusses how the entire war was an American policy along with corporate giants to generate
profit. This is quite evident from the book as the author also sheds light to how US companies
eventually bagged all the lucrative projects for the reconstruction of the war wrecked Iraq. The
legality of this is discussed below in accordance with the following chapters from the book.

“Do Turkeys Enjoy Thanksgiving”

Roy discusses the idea of "New Imperialism" in the chapter "Do Turkeys Enjoy Thanksgiving."
She is convinced that modern imperialism is unrelated to old imperialism. It just deals with
violence, unlawful occupation, genocides, and other forms of genocide. If countries refuse to
hand over their money to corporations, civil strife will erupt or war will be declared. Executives
of concerned companies who are directly or indirectly benefited from the war are allowed to
influence foreign policy decisions. For example, Bechtel signed a $680 million contract to
restore Iraq although one of the board of directors of the company was also the chairman of the
Committee for the Liberation of Iraq.

The author discusses later on how Bechtel was awarded reconstruction contracts in Iraq worth
over $2 billion, which include contracts to re-build power generation plants, electrical grids,
water supply, sewage systems, and airport facilities (Peace and The New Corporate Liberation
Theology)

“Peace and the New Corporate Liberation Theology”

The author begins the chapter by drawing a parallel between justice and human rights. Human
rights are what we do for the poor in today's world, and justice is something we do for the
wealthy. During the invasion of war, wealthy nations armed with nuclear arms converged on
Iraq, a poor country wrongly suspected of possessing nuclear weapons. In New Iraq, the US
army is privatizing on a breaking record. Prison interrogation and torture has been privatized.
The US army is recruiting private mercenaries to help in the occupation. In New Iraq, the
newspapers are being shut down, television stations bombed, reporters killed. US army has
opened fire against unarmed protestors. The US government sold key economic sectors of Iraq.
In the process, economic policies and tax laws were rewritten. Except the oil industry, foreign
companies can now buy 100% of the Iraqi firms and expatriate the profit. This is a direct
violation of international laws that govern the occupying force.

Legal Analysis:

Provisions regulating occupation can be found in The Hague Regulations of 1907, the Fourth
Geneva Convention of 1949 and Additional Protocol I of 1977.Under IHL, there is occupation
when a State exercises an unconsented-to effective control over a territory on which it has no
sovereign title. Article 42 of The Hague Regulations of 1907 defines occupation as follows:

“Territory is considered occupied when it is actually placed under the authority of the hostile
army. The occupation extends only to the territory where such authority has been established
and can be exercised.”

Under occupation law, the occupying power does not acquire sovereignty over the occupied
territory and is required to respect the existing laws and institutions of the occupied territory as
far as possible. It is presumed that occupation will be temporary and that the occupying power
shall preserve the status quo ante in the occupied territory.

As an Occupying Power, the U.S. is prohibited from imposing major legal, political, or economic
changes in Iraq. However, the Coalition Provisional Authority has issued a number of executive
orders that aim to privatize Iraq’s economy for the benefit of American corporations, with little
consideration for the welfare and rights of the Iraqi people. These changes violate international
law and have no binding legal effect.
 References:
1. https://www.un.org/en/about-us/universal-declaration-of-human-rights
2. https://www.un.org/en/genocideprevention/documents/atrocity-crimes/Doc.33_GC-IV-
EN.pdf
3. https://www.icrc.org/en/doc/resources/documents/misc/additional-protocols-1977.htm
4. https://www.hcch.net/en/instruments/conventions/full-text/?cid=24
5. https://www.bechtel.com/getmedia/e63dac7a-1339-4a90-a827-742103371a61/Bechtel,-
USAID,-and-the-Iraq-Infrastructure-Reconstruction-Program_-
Accomplishments_and_Challenges
6. https://www.un.org/en/about-us/un-charter/full-text
7. https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-36702957
8. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2003/mar/18/usa.iraq
9. https://www.un.org/en/genocideprevention/documents/atrocity-crimes/Doc.2_Charter
%20of%20IMT%201945.pdf
10. https://www.ohchr.org/en/professionalinterest/pages/cescr.aspx
11. https://www.fbi.gov/history/famous-cases/911-investigation
12. https://peacemaker.un.org/iraqkoweit-resolution687
13. https://www.un.org/Depts/unmovic/documents/1441.pdf