The Secretary General of the United Nations, Kofi Annan, said during an interview last year that the war was "illegal".
So, from the POV of the UN, it was illegal. The UN would require specific authorization of force against Iraq. The UN also allows for countries under attack to defend themselves.
Of course, from the POV of the USA, the war is perfectly legal and authorized by the US Congress (Resolution 114. In the House, the vote was 296-133, with a majority of Democrats voting against the resolution. In the Senate, the vote was 77-23, with 21 Democrats voting no), on October 10, 2002. This gave USA President George W. Bush the authority to decide whether or not Iraq posed a threat to the USA. The rest is history, so to speak. Mr. Bush went to the UN Security Council with a similar resolution, which never even came to a vote because they discovered it wasn't going to pass anyway. Mr. Bush took the USA (and the mighty coalition) to war against Iraq without specific authority from the UN. Its quite ironic, since the USA resolution makes many references to enforcing UN resolutions.
As I see it, right now the main problem is there is no clearly defined exit strategy. (See http://www.donhodges.com/Iraq_exit_strategy.html) US forces might never be able to secure Iraq. Almost 2 years later, the war seems to be just beginning. I fear that despite the cloak of democratic governments taking hold, the "insurgency" will stay the same, more or less, leaving US troops (and Iraqis) in extreme danger for years to come. We know recruitment is down, and is likely to stay down, at least as long as US troops keep dying in the "OPERATION IRAQI FREEDOM". One can only imagine how low recruiting would be if, in our "free" country, our "free" press were able to show the flag-draped coffins being unloaded almost daily (I mean nightly) at Dover AFB. The draft, and further restrictions of freedoms, are very possible, all they would need is an excuse, which might well come in the form of further attack(s) on the "homeland". Remember 9-11 ?
3/8/2005
Updated Saturday, December 21, 2024
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Iraq war illegal, says Annan
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He said the decision to take action in Iraq should have been made by the Security Council, not unilaterally. The UK government responded by saying the attorney-general made the "legal basis... clear at the time". Mr Annan also warned security in Iraq must considerably improve if credible elections are to be held in January. The UN chief said in an interview with the BBC World Service that "painful lessons" had been learnt since the war in Iraq. "Lessons for the US, the UN and other member states. I think in the end everybody's concluded it's best to work together with our allies and through the UN," he said. 'Valid' "I hope we do not see another Iraq-type operation for a long time - without UN approval and much broader support from the international community," he added. He said he believed there should have been a second UN resolution following Iraq's failure to comply over weapons inspections. And it should have been up to the Security Council to approve or determine the consequences, he added. When pressed on whether he viewed the invasion of Iraq as illegal, he said: "Yes, if you wish. I have indicated it was not in conformity with the UN charter from our point of view, from the charter point of view, it was illegal." |
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Watch Kofi Annan |
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