UK's Ex-Chief Justice Rips Into Iraq Invasion

One of Britain's most respected judges struck out last night against the invasion of Iraq, which he declared illegal and worthy of a "world vigilante." Thomas Bingham, who held the UK's equivalent post to chief justice, used his first speech since retirement to decry "a serious violation of international law and the rule of law."

Continued Bingham: "The effect of acting unilaterally was to undermine the foundation (of) which the post-1945 consensus: the prohibition of force (save in self-defense, or to avert an impending humanitarian catastrophe) unless formally authorized by the nations of the world empowered to make decisions." (More United Kingdom stories.)