[JURIST] Australian Prime Minister John Howard has announced that Australian troops will join a US-led war against Iraq. Read a transcript of his news conference Tuesday morning in Canberra, as published in the Sydney Morning Herald. On the legality of military action, Prime Minister Howard said:

The action that might be taken as a result of this decision has a sound legal basis in the resolutions of the Security Council that have already been passed. If you go back to resolution 678, 687 and 1441, you find ample legal authority. That is not only the legal advice that has been tendered to us but it is also almost identically the published view of the Attorney-General of the United Kingdom Government. It also corresponds with legal advice that has been tendered to the United States Government. It is my intention to table in the Parliament this afternoon the text of the legal advice that has been provided to the Australian Government.

[JURIST] Watch recorded video of President Bush's Monday evening address to the nation on Iraq, now available from the White House. The President issued an ultimatum to Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and his sons to leave Iraq within 48 hours or face military action.

President Bush defended the legality of military action against Iraq both with respect to his constitutional authority and international law:

The United States of America has the sovereign authority to use force in assuring its own national security. That duty falls to me, as Commander-in-Chief, by the oath I have sworn, by the oath I will keep. Recognizing the threat to our country, the United States Congress voted overwhelmingly last year to support the use of force against Iraq.... Under [UN Security Council] Resolutions 678 and 687 -- both still in effect -- the United States and our allies are authorized to use force in ridding Iraq of weapons of mass destruction. This is not a question of authority, it is a question of will. Last September, I went to the U.N. General Assembly and urged the nations of the world to unite and bring an end to this danger. On November 8th, the Security Council unanimously passed Resolution 1441, finding Iraq in material breach of its obligations, and vowing serious consequences if Iraq did not fully and immediately disarm. Today, no nation can possibly claim that Iraq has disarmed.

[JURIST] According to the Department of Homeland Security website, the US terror alert level has been raised to High/Orange.

UPDATE [8:56 PM ET]: A statement by Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge announcing the heightened alert and setting out the basics of "Operation Liberty Shield," described as "a comprehensive national plan to protect the Homeland," is now available on the White House website.
UPDATE [10:13 PM ET]: A fact sheet on Operation Liberty Shield is now available online from the Department of Homeland Security.

[JURIST] A transcript of US Secretary of State Colin Powell's remarks to the press on Iraq earlier Monday is now available from the State Department. The UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office has posted a transcript of remarks made by UK Foreign Secretary Jack Straw in the British House of Commons Monday afternoon, looking ahead to Tuesday's Commons debate on military action. An English version of a statement issued by French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin in Paris is also available from the French Embassy in Washington, DC.

[JURIST] Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien said in the House of Commons in Ottawa Monday that Canada will not join US and UK military action against Iraq [CTV] absent a new Security Council resolution.

[JURIST] The US Securities and Exchange Commission [official website] Monday charged the Merrill Lynch investment firm and four of its former senior executives with aiding and abetting securities fraud by Enron Corporation. Simultaneous with the filing of the charges, the SEC accepted a settlement under which Merrill Lynch, without admitting or denying the allegations in the complaint, would pay $80 million dollars in disgorgement, penalties and interest. Read the SEC press release.

[JURIST] Watch recorded video of statements made by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and ambassadors from the United Kingdom , the United States , Germany and France after the end of Monday's Security Council consultations on Iraq. The session with the Secretary-General includes an agitated exchange with reporters on the question of whether military action against Iraq would be in accordance with international law. The ambassador from Guinea , who is presiding over the Security Council this month, announced that the Council would go ahead Wednesday with briefings from UN weapons inspectors on the key remaining disarmament issues for Baghdad to resolve.

[JURIST] The Ohio General Assembly Thursday enacted a proposal advanced by law professor Jack Chin and a group of students at the University of Cincinnati College of Law [official website] to ratify the Fourteenth Amendment - one hundred thirty-five years late. Learn more about the Fourteenth Amendment Ratification Project. Although the vote was unanimous in the Senate and 94-1 in the House, only closed-door arm-twisting by the Republican leadership suppressed a revolt by conservatives who objected that the amendment was responsible for Roe v. Wade and the school prayer cases. A Republican-controlled legislature had ratified the Amendment in 1867, but after the voters refused to extend the franchise to nonwhites and control of the legislature passed to Democrats, the legislature rescinded the ratification before the necessary 3/4ths of the states had acted. Jack Chin reflected on his ratification experience Saturday for JURIST:

I think the 14th Amendment is the most important law in American history, so working on its ratification has been the high point of my legal career so far. The best part was hearing legislators on the floor of the House and Senate say how meaningful it was for them to vote for this Amendment as lawmakers, when in 1868 they would not even have been allowed to vote because of their race or sex or both. Working on this with students was also great fun, and I think drafting testimony and presenting it to the Ohio legislature gave the students more insight into 14th Amendment and the legislative process than would have writing an exam and talking about it with me. We felt that it was important for Ohio to formally ratify even though the 14th Amendment was already in effect. Extremist groups all over the Internet claim that there is no 14th Amendment, in part because Ohio rescinded its ratification in 1868; we wanted to help put an end to that.

[JURIST] A broad coalition of 68 groups ranging across the American political spectrum sent a collective letter Monday to members of Congress expressing their opposition to the Domestic Security Enhancement Act, a proposed follow-up to the USA PATRIOT Act revealed in confidential Justice Department documents on February 7 [JURIST report]. "The draft bill," asserts the letter,

contains a multitude of new and sweeping law enforcement and intelligence gathering powers, many of which are not related to terrorism, that would severely dilute, if not undermine, many basic constitutional rights, as well as disturb our unique system of checks and balances. If adopted, the bill would diminish personal privacy by removing important checks on government surveillance authority, reduce the accountability of government to the public by increasing government secrecy, expand the definition of ?terrorism? in a manner that threatens the constitutionally protected rights of Americans, and seriously erode the right of all persons to due process of law.

[JURIST] Following advisories [JURIST report] from the United States, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan announced [UN News report] Monday afternoon that he was withdrawing UN weapons inspectors from Iraq.

[JURIST] Texas Wesleyan University has announced that Frederick G. Slabach, currently vice dean of Florida Coastal School of Law in Jacksonville, Florida, will replace Richard Gershon as dean of the Texas Wesleyan University School of Law [official website] effective June 1. Texas Wesleyan has more details.... The University of Hawa'ii confirmed [press release] Friday that Boston College law professor and former dean Aviam Soifer would be taking over as the next dean of its William S. Richardson School of Law [official website].

[JURIST] Recorded video of statements on Iraq made outside the UN Security Council earlier Monday by representatives of the United States , Spain , France and Pakistan is now online from the UN.

[JURIST] The BBC is reporting that Robin Cook, the UK government's leader in the House of Commons and former Foreign Secretary, has resigned over Iraq.

UPDATE [3:53 PM ET]: Cook's resignation letter and Prime Minister Blair's letter in response are now available from the BBC.
UPDATE [7:47 PM ET]: Recorded video of Robin Cook's statement to the Commons [BBC] is now available.

[JURIST] The US, the UK and Spain have withdrawn their second draft resolution at the UN and their diplomatic initiative is now at an end. Watch recorded video [BBC] of a statement by Sir Jeremy Greenstock, British ambassador to the UN. The UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office has provided an official transcript. White House spokesman Ari Fleischer says that President Bush will address the nation at 8 PM ET this evening.

[JURIST] UK Attorney General, Lord Goldsmith, said in a written statement to the House of Lords Monday that military action against Iraq was legal even in the absence an additional UN Resolution: "Authority to use force against Iraq exists from the combined effect of resolutions 678, 687 and 1441." Read the full statement, now online from the UK Prime Minister's Office.

[JURIST] French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin discussed the Iraq crisis and the US-UK-Spain diplomatic deadline Monday morning on French radio, indicating that France remained opposed to war and rejecting the latest draft resolution on Iraq tabled by the United States, Great Britain and Spain authorizing immediate use of force. Listen to his interview on Europe-1 [in French], or read a UPI report with excerpts in translation.

[JURIST] The British Embassy in Kuwait [official website] Monday issued "unequivocal advice to leave while commercial flights continue." The Embassy's latest warden notice to UK nationals in Kuwait continues: "people should go now: a decision to stay is entirely and solely the responsibility of the individual concerned...the travel advice notes that attacks from Iraq and from terrorists could involve chemical and biological weapons...the sensible response to a CBW threat is not to be there in the first place – this is why taking account of FCO travel advice is so important."

The US State Department issued a similar travel warning for Kuwait Sunday, advising Americans to avoid gong there and advising American now there to leave: "Please note that although commercial air service is currently available, there remains the possibility of commercial flight disruptions should there be military action in Iraq. In the event of military action in Iraq, there is a risk that Iraq or terrorist organizations may use chemical and/or biological materials which could affect the region." Read the full US travel warning.

[JURIST] Ed Firmage of the University of Utah College of Law thinks invading Iraq is unconstitutional (notwithstanding the recent US First Circuit Court of Appeals ruling in Doe v. Bush). Read his op-ed in Monday's Salt Lake Tribune

[JURIST] Hear divergent views from a member of the UK House of Lords and a former UK Solicitor General, discussing the issue on BBC Radio Monday.

[JURIST] At a meeting of the IAEA Board of Governors Monday in Vienna, IAEA Chairman Dr. Mohamed ElBaradei made the following announcement:

Late last night...I was advised by the United States Government to pull out our inspectors from Baghdad. Similar advice has been given to the United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC). I immediately informed the President of the Security Council and asked for guidance. I also informed the United Nations Secretary-General. I understand that the Security Council will take up the issue today.