Judge rejects lawsuit to block war against Iraq.

Judge rejects lawsuit to block war against Iraq


By Ralph Ranalli, Globe Staff, 2/25/2003

Calling the potential war with Iraq a political rather than a legal issue, a federal judge in Boston refused yesterday to issue a temporary restraining order that would have prevented the Bush administration from attacking without a declaration of war from Congress.



A group of unnamed military personnel, along with relatives of people in the armed forces and six members of the US House of Representatives, had filed suit, claiming that Congress had abdicated its war powers to the executive branch when it passed a resolution backing military action in Iraq last October.

US District Judge Joseph L. Tauro agreed with Justice Department lawyers who argued that the judiciary has no power to intervene in matters of foreign policy except in cases where Congress and the president are strongly and clearly in conflict. The judge denied the plaintiff's request for a temporary restraining order and ordered their lawsuit dismissed.

''The issues raised in this case are political questions beyond the authority of this court to resolve,'' Tauro said at a hearing.

Tauro said he could not tackle the issue of the constitutionality of the October resolution because Congress had ''clearly . . . not acted to bind the president from engaging in a war on Iraq'' and was, therefore, not in direct conflict with the executive branch.


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TEXT


Text of Blix's 2/14 UN report
Text of Elbaradei's 2/14 UN report
Sec. Powell's address to UN
UN Security Council resolution
Bush's speech on the UN vote
Blix's report to the UN on Iraq



GRAPHICS


United Nations:
A divided Security Council
Photos from Powell's UN talk
Details on Powell's presentation
Access to weapons sites
UN members
Time guideline on UN resolution
Off limits to inspectors
Convincing the Security Council
The case against Iraq


Saddam Hussein:
Ousting Sadaam
No way out



Weapons:
Weapon inspection sites
US, Iraq military might
Long range weapons
Search for Iraq's weapons
Western missile range
Military maneuvers
Off and on search for weapons
The arsenal


Iraq:
Military buildup
Iraq no-fly zones
Potential targets
Iraq's oil
Middle East aids US
Factors in an attack

Effects:
Cost of war
In defense of Turkey
Scenario for US-led strike



MESSAGE BOARD


What are the occasions when war becomes necessary--despite the fact that violence is never a good in itself? We asked Boston.com users if war with Iraq meets the test of just war theory.
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After Secretary of State Colin Powell's presentation of declassified material to the UN Security Council on February 5, has the case been made for the US to go to war? We asked Boston.com users for their thoughts.
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John Bonifaz, a Boston lawyer who represented the plaintiffs, called Tauro's decision ''wrong'' and vowed an immediate appeal. Bonifaz said Congress created a dangerous situation by investing all the power to wage war with one man, President Bush.

Plaintiff Charles Richardson of Jamaica Plain, whose son, Joseph, is a US Marine assigned to the American forces massing in the Persian Gulf, said he was disappointed by Tauro's decision.

''It would have taken a strong judge to rule on the merits of this case,'' said the elder Richardson.

Justice Department lawyers read a statement from Attorney General John D. Ashcroft. ''As the court held, Congress and the president are speaking with one voice in deciding that force may be necessary to compel Iraq to end its . . . weapons programs, to end its support of international terrorism, and to comply with the UN's resolutions,'' the statement read.

This story ran on page A15 of the Boston Globe on 2/25/2003.
© Copyright 2003 Globe Newspaper Company.