Supreme Court: U.S. Courts Have No Jurisdiction To Hear Suits Against Iraq

By Courtney Ann Jackson-Talk Radio News Service

According to federal law, foreign countries cannot be sued by individuals in the U.S. and that is one of the points the Supreme Court had to consider before releasing its decision today. But an exception applies that a country can be sued by American citizens if it is designated as a sponsor of terrorism. Immunity is ordinarily attached to foreign sovereigns.
 
In 2003, Congress authorized the President to make exceptions with respect to Iraq, which was designated as a sponsor of terrorism. The Emergency Wartime Supplemental Appropriations Act repealed previous restrictions. President George W. Bush said that year that EWSAA allowed him to “make inapplicable with respect to Iraq of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 or any other provision of law that applies to countries that have supported terrorism.”

That same year, families of torture victims filed suits against Iraq, alleging mistreatment by Iraqi officials during, and following the 1991 Gulf War. Kenneth Beaty is a U.S. citizen who was working as an oil-rig supervisor in Kuwait when he was arrested by Iraqi border guards after asking them for driving directions. William Barloon was serving as an aircraft maintenance supervisor in Kuwait when border police also arrested him. The two men were taken to prison in Baghdad where they were allegedly denied basic living necessities and their case is entitled Republic of Iraq v. Beaty.

The unanimous Supreme Court decision was delivered today by Justice Scalia. It stated that Iraq’s sovereign immunity was restored when the President exercised his EWSAA authority to make Iraq an exception. The ruling said that the U.S. courts therefore lost jurisdiction to hear suits against Iraq and should have dismissed the cases at that point. The judgement of the Court of Appeals was reversed. The Court also decided that the subset provision applied to the President’s power to create waiver. However, the waivers created by that power or the restoration of Iraq’s sovereignty, are not affected by the sunset.

Iraq troop reduction benefits Afghanistan

Following an announcement by the Bush administration to withdraw 8,000 further troops from Iraq by February and funnel more troops to Afghanistan, the Secretary of Defense said that both the war in Iraq and the war in Afghanistan are top military priorities. "With positive developments in Iraq, the strategic flexibility provided by ongoing troop reductions there , and the prospect of further reductions next year-- I think it is possible in the months to come to do militarily what we must in both countries," said Sec. Robert Gates in his written statement, referencing earlier Defense Department statements that in Afghanistan the U.S. does what it can and in Iraq it does what it must.

Admiral Mike Mullen, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who drew the earlier distinction prioritizing the two wars, told the House Armed Services Committee that both conflicts are military priorities. "These [wars] are our priorities and they've been our priorities," he said. Mullen also enumerated the differences between the two conflicts including the nature of the enemy to the terrain on the ground. "We treated the needs of each war separately-- and weighed out decisions for each solely-- against the risks inherent and resources available."

Both Gates and Mullen made statements indicating united military decision making in reference to a new book by journalist Bob Woodward and a subsequent series in the Washington Post on the surge and how the military may have been circumvented by the White House. Mullen who is quoted in the book, emphasiezd that he was not interviewed about his statements. Mullen said that his advice, as chairman to the president was allowed up the chain of command unimpeded. "I think that is a very important part of our democracy and how the system is supposed to work."

Speaking about the recent 45-day period of review of troop levels in Iraq Mullen said that the decision was "candid, transparent, and thoroughly collaborative...including the Joint Chiefs of Staff."

Additionally Gates announced that a procurement process for a new air tanker fleet would be postponed until July of 2009. The original bidding and selection process had been contested by Boeing and the GAO ordered a new request for proposals. Gates said because of the changes that need to be made to the "emotional" and "complicated" process, this procurement should be left to the next administration.

Gas prices making us reach for change

Consumers are being tipped upside down by the big oil companies, with money being shaken out of their pockets at the pump. This statement made by Chairman Edward Markey (D-MA), was widely echoed by all members of Congress present at the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming. President Bush, he said, refuses to use our oil reserves, and not only is that something that can be done, it is something that should be done. Congressman James Sensenbrenner (R-WI) echoed that by adding that they need to put aside bipartisanship and releasing the reserves was essentially paying attention to Economics 101.

Congressman Jay Inslee (D-WA) made an even stronger statement, saying ‘when your house is on fire it is more important to get the hose instead of take out another insurance policy.’ Why is it, he said, that we regulate wheat but not gas? Speculation is driving up prices, and the administration has refused to help us.

And that speculation of world condition is 1/3 of the price per barrel, according to Dr. Mark Cooper, Director of Research at the Consumer Federation of America. America uses 1/4 of the oil in the world, and that 1/3 price is actually $38 dollars a barrel [as of today]. A side effect of high gas prices, is that trucks deliver almost all the consumer goods in the United States, Dave Berry, Vice President of the Swift Transportation Company, Inc, added. The high prices of gas and/or diesel are causing prices in consumer goods to go up, since they are trucked from place to place.

Kevin Book, Sr. Vice President & Senior Analyst for Energy Policy, Oil, & Alternative Energy, summed up the crisis as follows: We need to save energy on a daily basis and quit our oil addiction. This element was not expanded on, and instead all the questioning reverted to whether or not the panel thought that President Bush should deploy the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. The answer was a very enthusiastic “yes” from Dave Berry. We’d like the President to stop filling the SPR, he said, and consumers at the pump will see the benefit.