Posted on 09/16/2004 5:05:07 PM PDT by CBull
US says Iraq invasion was legal
Watch Kofi Annan
The US has rejected the United Nations secretary-general's claim that the US-led invasion of Iraq was illegal. Kofi Annan told the BBC the decision to take action in Iraq contravened the UN charter and should have been made by the Security Council, not unilaterally.
But US State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said the use of force against Iraq had a sound legal basis.
Earlier, US allies including the UK, Australia and Poland also said the war was backed by international law.
In Baghdad, the interim Iraqi government said Iraqis had been happy to see the end of Saddam Hussein.
'We don't agree'
Mr Boucher said military action was consistent with UN resolutions which referred to "serious consequences" if Iraq failed to comply with UN demands.
"While we respect his views I think we have made it clear we don't agree," he said.
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 Kofi Annan
President Bush himself has not directly responded to Mr Annan's comments.
But while campaigning in Minnesota for November's presidential election, he reiterated the US position that Security Council resolution 1441, passed in November 2002, gave the invasion legal force.
"The United Nations looked at the same intelligence I looked at," AFP news agency quoted Mr Bush as saying. "They concluded Saddam Hussein was a threat. They voted by 15-0 in the UN Security Council for Saddam Hussein to disclose, disarm or face serious consequences."
Mr Annan's criticism has particular political resonance in the US, where the Bush administration's performance on Iraq is a key issue in the election, the BBC's Jill McGivering reports from Washington.
Mr Annan's disapproval of the US-led action was already well known. But this is the first time he has used the word "illegal", our correspondent says.
'Paralysed'
Authorities in the UK, Australia, Poland, Bulgaria and Japan also rebuffed Mr Annan's claims.
Australian Prime Minister John Howard described the UN as a "paralysed" body and said it was incapable of dealing with international crises.
The legal advice we had - and I tabled it at the time - was that the action was entirely valid in international law terms John Howard
"The legal advice we had - and I tabled it at the time - was that the action was entirely valid in international law terms," he said.
The British government - which has argued that UN resolutions provided a legal basis for intervening to topple Saddam Hussein - said the 2003 invasion was "not only lawful but necessary".
Japan's top government spokesman, Hiroyuki Hosoda, told a news conference that he would be seeking clarification about the exact significance of Mr Annan's words.
Polish Foreign Ministry spokesman Boguslaw Majewski said the "decisions which at that time were made by the international community in Iraq, did have legal basis".
And Bulgarian spokeswoman Guergana Grantcharova cited previous Security Council resolutions which, she said, supported the case for war.
Mr Annan told the BBC World Service there should have been a second UN resolution following Iraq's failure to comply over weapons inspections.
He also warned security in Iraq must considerably improve if credible elections are to be held in January.
Story from BBC NEWS: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/middle_east/3664234.stm
Published: 2004/09/16 22:44:51 GMT
© BBC MMIV
bump!!!!!!!!!!!!1
I'll second that question.
Nothin'. And there's nothin' the UN can do about it - that's why they're whinin'.
Your absolutely correct!!! Why pander to him and his corrupt organization?
Read the title again carefully!!
How about 'The U.S. tells the irrelevant U.N. to STFU!'
This 'illegal war' stuff is indescribably stupid.
Something is illegal when a sovereign state which has authority over it declares it so. War is what happens when two sovereign states fight each other. War cannot be either legal or illegal.
"illegal war" is just a catchphrase fed to stupid people who don't think about anything and will repeat it as often as necessary to get other people to believe it.
An explicit attempt to effect the US election-any guess which side old Kofi prefers?
Screw Kofi Annan and the U.N. he rode in on.
Classic Title Bump
"Something is illegal when a sovereign state which has authority over it declares it so."
You are correct, thus my reference to the Law that makes our nation sovereign, the Constitution.
Hey, Kofi, didn't anybody tell you that the Iraq war is supported by a coaliton of over 70 countries, you fruit!
Actually, it was a war that made our nation sovereign, something alot of liberals might not want to admit.
Or maybe not. I can definitely see some modern liberals say that the revolutionary war was illegal, and that we should let Europe take back control of our country.
Sorry,
I put the cart before the horse. You are correct, a war did make us free. The Constitution is supposed to help keep us sovereign, but only if it is not ignored.
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