The bombing of Syria was a violation of U.S. and International law. It was the U.S. that violated the nuclear deal with Iran and Biden should rejoin the agreement without new conditions. Phyliss Bennis and Larry Wilkerson join Paul Jay on theAnalysis.news

Paul Jay

Hi, welcome to theAnalysis.news. I'm Paul Jay. Please don't forget the donate button at the top of the webpage.

On February 28th, Iran rejected the U.S. offer to attend a meeting of the P5+1 countries Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia, and the United States to chart a diplomatic way forward on the Iran nuclear deal. Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said that the Biden administration had not set aside President Donald Trump's so-called maximum pressure policy, quote, "Given the recent moves and positions of the U.S. and the three European countries, the Islamic Republic doesn't assess the timing of an informal meeting proposed by the EU coordinator as appropriate."

Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman also said the path ahead is very clear. The U.S. should end its illegal unilateral sanctions and return to the JSCPOA. That's the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action commitments. Last week, the U.S. military bombed bases in Syria it claims belong to a pro-Iranian militia. U.S. defense officials announced the strikes without providing details and with no mention of casualties, saying only they were retaliation for a rocket attack in Iraq earlier last month that killed one civilian contractor and wounded a U.S. service member.

The U.S. attack was carried out without a declaration of war or authorization from Congress as Syria had not attacked the United States. The bombing on Syrian territory was also a violation of international law. Now joining us to discuss U.S. policy towards Iran is Phyllis Bennis, who is the director of the New Internationalism Project at the Institute for Policy Studies. Among her latest books are understanding ISIS and the new Global War on Terror, as well as the updated edition of Understanding the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict.

Thanks for joining us, Phyllis.

Phyllis Bennis

Good to be with you, Paul.

Paul Jay

And also joining us again is Lawrence Wilkerson. He's a retired United States Army colonel and former chief of staff to Secretary of State Colin Powell. Thank you, Larry.

Lawrence Wilkerson

Thanks for having me on the analysis.

Paul Jay

So, Larry, kick us off. First of all, from the legal perspective, was this bombing legal either by U.S. law or international law?

Lawrence Wilkerson

As far as I read it, both in terms of the law of war and international law in general, the U.S. operations in Syria are all violative. That is to say, they are all wrong, they're illegal. We were not invited into Syria by the existing government. We didn't have a reason in our own defense, self-defense, if you will, Article 51, for example, to go into Syria. It's all illegal. Everything we are doing in Syria is illegal.

Now, the administration is arguing that it's under the AUMF that gave us carte blanche to attack every terrorist on the face of the earth, wherever they might appear in whatever decade or century. And that's what we're doing. It's illegal.

Paul Jay

This is the post 9/11, quote-unquote, authorization.

Lawrence Wilkerson

Yes.

Phyllis Bennis

Phyllis, what's your take?