Guardian: I do not reject the Geneva conventions

I am pleased that a member of the government has allowed comment to be passed on what they say, if they actually read the comments then better still. I think the government should find a way of doing this more often, open up it's own forums or blogs. In the past the media has provided a buffer between politicians and public opinion, now perhaps the buffer can be removed.

The key to international law is not change or adapt it, but to implement it. The US government has been accused of being criminal in many regards but it is criminal in its attempt to disrupt or avoid international legalities. There was no urgency to invade Iraq, and so we could have taken time to create an international response. You say regarding legal constraints, that we have “an enemy which adheres to none whatsoever, but is swift to insist that we do”, whereas I usually see the enemy talk about our hypocrisy, our claim to be moral or legal when our actions are immoral or illegal. We should always strive to take the moral high ground. We should implement the international criminal court, empower the UN, or do anything to end wild-west justice and, to extend the analogy, bring in “federal marshals”. We must find a way to force the US to comply with international laws. We must end the immoral arms trade that disfigures so much of the world. We must end the disruption of democracies and support of dictators. Once we have a coordinated international legal system with consensus on implementation, once we have ceased the arms trade that fuels so much conflict. Once all this is in place then we will be able to wisely update our international laws, not before.