As a middle power, Australia should be careful what it wishes for when it comes to an illegal war with Iran | Andrew Wilkie

Despite blatant cover-ups by the Australian government and opposition, the US-Israeli war against Iran is illegal.

To have legal grounds authorizing the use of force, a country must act in self-defense in response to an attack or imminent attack, or act with the express approval of the UN Security Council.

The contradictory and confusing claims by the United States and Israel that there is an urgent need to end the threat from Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs are fraudulent. US President Donald Trump claimed last year that Iran’s nuclear program had been “completely destroyed” by the 12-day war.

And in any case, there is no evidence that Iran is close to possessing a nuclear weapon, nor that it has the technology to launch one. In other words, any attempt to rely on the notion of anticipated retaliation in this case is simply fanciful.

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Furthermore, not only was this attack not sanctioned by the UN, but the United States and Israel did not even try to gain international support for the current military campaign.

People may remember that I resigned from the intelligence services following the fraudulent invasion of Iraq affair in 2003. I see alarming parallels with that affair.

In fact, in both cases the threat was exaggerated to justify the war. But at least before the 2003 invasion, the United States took the matter to the UN and tried to make its case.

The other alarming parallel, which should not be overlooked, is political. And it is that both wars were started by existing, unpopular US administrations in the run-up to the mid-term elections. This is one of the oldest tricks in the book for distracting a population and trying to encourage them to rally around the flag.

Don’t get me wrong. There is no denying that the dismantling of the Iranian regime is a good thing. This is a heinous theocracy that has terrorized and murdered its own people and wreaked havoc all the way to Australia. I would be among the first to welcome the end of the regime and its replacement by an open democracy.

But the rule of law is important and it must be applied consistently. It is simply unacceptable to say in this or any other case that “the ends justify the means,” or that international law only applies to our adversaries and competitors – and not to our friends. Nor is it acceptable to throw up our hands and resign ourselves to “might makes right.”

Another lesson from the Iraq War and similar regime change operations is that the result will almost inevitably be widespread suffering for innocent civilians, greater geopolitical instability, and increased refugee flows across the world.

For all these reasons, it is particularly galling that instead of standing up to the United States on a matter of principle, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Foreign Minister Penny Wong have simply encouraged it for this latest illegal action.

Australia needs to be careful what it wishes for. As a middle power, we have benefited from a rules-based order, and our future depends on a rules-based order.

This order enabled the international community to address the ozone crisis, leading to a gradual repair of the hole in the ozone layer above our heads. Compliance with international law has significantly limited the testing and proliferation of nuclear weapons and helped ensure that they have not been used by nations in any conflict since World War II. This has increased the importance of fundamental human rights in Australia and around the world.

On a more everyday level, international law guides international trade and telecommunications, which have made Australia one of the richest countries on the planet and kept us connected and engaged with our friends and family around the world.

In fact, Australia has played a leading role in the creation of many strands of international law, including that of the United Nations and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. We did so not only in pursuit of noble ideals, but also because it was in our national interest.

The preamble to the United Nations Charter, signed in 1945, contextualizes this through a determination “to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, which, twice in our lifetimes, has caused untold suffering to humanity, and to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal rights of men and women and of nations large and small.”

This last part is very important to us because Australia remains a relatively small nation, easily caught up in great power conflicts.

While certainly not perfect, international law aims to contain the worst excesses of power politics and geopolitical competition, and attempts to elevate and equalize the rights and voices of all nations – and indeed all peoples.

We treat it with contempt, at our peril.