Attack on Iranian Consulate in Arbil (or Erbil)

Even as George W. Bush was speaking on Iraq last night, American forces engaged in a unnecessary offense against International law.

They attacked the Iranian consulate in Arbil, north of Baghdad and arrested five people.
An attack on a Consulate is a violation of the 1963 Vienna Convention on Consular Relations. Once again George Bush is taking the law into his own hands, once again our enemies now have an excuse to treat us and our missions abroad in the same way.

The attack was unnecessary, the way of dealing with suspicious (read supporting insurgents) activity in a consulate is clearly defined by the Convention. The Iraq government merely had to declare the members of the Consular staff to be “persona non grata” and the Iranian government would have had to withdraw them.

Why, oh why, does this administration always go about things in a way that destroys international cooperation rather than trying to build it? That I will never understand.

Sent to New York Times, January 11th, 2007