Harold Hongju Koh, JD - US - Iraq War - ProCon.org

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US - IRAQ WAR

Harold Hongju Koh, JD Biography
Title:	Legal Advisor at the US Department of State
Position:	Con to the question "Should the US Have Attacked Iraq?"
Reasoning:	"I believe that Saddam Hussein is an evil and dangerous man who daily abuses his own people and who wishes no good for our country or the world. I fear his weapons of mass destruction and believe they should be eliminated. Yet I believe just as strongly that it would be a mistake for our country to attack Iraq without explicit United Nations authorization. First, I do not believe that such an attack would make the world or America safer... Second, I believe such an attack would violate international law... Third, I believe there are better uses right now for our troops... Fourth, I believe that there are better uses for our money... Fifth and finally, I do not believe that unilateral pre-emptive attack is what this country stands for." "A Better Way To Deal With Iraq," Hartford Courant, Oct. 20, 2002
Theoretical Expertise Ranking:	Experts Individuals with PhD's, JD's, or equivalent advanced degrees in fields relevant to the US - Iraq conflict. Also top-level government officials (such as foreign leaders, US presidents, Founding Fathers, Supreme Court Justices, members of legislative bodies, cabinet members, military leaders, etc.) with positions relevant to the US - Iraq conflict.
Involvement and Affiliations:	Legal Advisor, US Department of State, Sep. 17, 2009-present Dean, Yale Law School, 2004-2009 Gerard C. and Bernice Latrobe Smith Professor of International Law, Yale Law School, 1993-2009 Held US Delegate or Head of Delegation positions to: the UN General Assembly (Third Committee), the UN Human Rights Commission, the Organization of American States, the Council of Europe, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the UN Committee Against Torture, the Inaugural Community of Democracies Meeting (Warsaw 2000); the UN Conference on New and Restored Democracies (Cotonou, Benin 2000), 1998-2001 Former Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, US Department of State Former Commissioner, Commission for Security and Cooperation in Europe Director, Orville H. Schell Jr., Center for International Human Rights, Yale Law School, 1993-1998 Visiting Fellow, All Souls College, Oxford University, 1996-1997 Visiting Fellow, Waynflete Lecturer, Magdalen College, Oxford University, 1996-1997 Visiting Professor, Hague Academy of International Law, 1993 Professor, Yale Law School, 1990-1993 Visiting Professor of International Law, University of Toronto, 1990, 2002 Associate Professor, Yale Law School, 1985-1990 Attorney-Adviser, Office of Legal Counsel, US Department of Justice, 1983-1985 Adjunct Assistant Professorial Lecturer in Law, George Washington University National Law Center, 1982-1985
Education:	MA, Oxford University, 1996 JD, cum laude, Harvard University, 1980 BA, Philosophy, Marshall Scholar, Oxford University, 1977 AB, summa cum laude, Harvard University, 1975
Other:	Recipient, Judith Lee Stronach Human Rights Award, Center for Justice and Accountability, 2008 Recipient, Louis B. Sohn Award, American Bar Association, for lifetime contributions to international law, 2005 Recipient, Wolfgang Friedmann Award, Columbia Law School, 2003 Associate, Covington & Burling, Washington, DC, 1982-1983 Law Clerk to Associate Justice Harry A. Blackmun, US Supreme Court, 1981-1982 Law Clerk to Circuit Judge Malcolm Richard Wilkey, US Court of Appeals, DC Circuit, 1980-1981 Teaching Fellow, First-Year Legal Methods Program, Harvard Law School, 1978-1979 Recipient, 11 honorary degrees
Quoted in:	1. Should the US have attacked Iraq?

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