un & iraq intervention, ranjita

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Afghanistan

Modern historyThe Afghan nation began to emerge in the late eighteenth century. It was ruled, with brief interruptions, bya succession of monarchs whose consolidation of power was constantly undermined by civil wars andforeign invasions. The current borders of Afghanistan were delineated in the nineteenth century, as aresult of the "great game" rivalry between Russia and Britain. Britain exerted some influence over Afghanforeign policy from the late nineteenth century until the Third Anglo-Afghan War in 1919. Afghanistan

joined the UN in 1946.

In 1973, King Zahir Shah was overthrown in a coup by his cousin and former Prime Minister, Muhammad

Daud. Daud declared Afghanistan a republic, with himself as president, and the King went into exile inItaly.

Daud's government, however, wasopposed by both the leftist People'sDemocratic Party of Afghanistan(PDPA) and traditional ethnicleaders. In April 1978, leftist militaryofficers overthrew and killed Daudand PDPA leader Noor Muhammad

Taraki became President.

Late in 1978, Islamic traditionalists

The War on Iraq: Legal Issues

After months of trying to rally international support for a war and a two-day ultimatum

demanding that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein step down, the United States attacked

Iraq on March 19, 2003. The goal, U.S. President George W. Bush said in a speech,

was "to disarm Iraq, to free its people and to defend the world from grave danger."

Experts disagree as to whether the war was legal under international law. UnderChapter VII of the United Nations Charter, to which the United States is a party, a

nation's use of force is authorized under only two circumstances: in individual orcollective self-defense, as outlined in Article 51, or pursuant to a Security Council

resolution, as outlined in Article 42.

Self Defense

Since it was not directly attacked by Iraq the United States did not have an obviousright to self-defense. The administration, though, argued that it had a right to defend

itself preemptively against a future possible attack. In his speech to the United Nations

on September 12, 2002, President Bush described Saddam Hussein's regime as "a grave

and gathering danger," detailed that regime's persistent efforts to acquire weapons of

mass destruction, and spoke of an "outlaw regime" providing such weapons to

terrorists. For an extensive discussion of international law and the preemptive use offorce, see the Congressional Research Service's Report for Congress of September 23,

2002.

While arguing for preemption, the administration also suggested that the United States

had a right to self-defense on the grounds that the Iraqi regime was connected to Al

Qaeda, the organization responsible for the attacks on the United States of September11, 2001. In February 2003, Secretary of State Colin Powell told the United Nations

Security Council that Iraq was harboring a terrorist cell led by Abu Musab Zarqawi, asuspected associate of Al Qaeda. Powell also said that senior Iraqi and Al Qaeda

leaders had met at least eight times since the early 1990s. Ansar al-Islam, an Islamistmilitia group, was also suspected of ties to Al Qaeda, and was based in a lawless part of

Afghanistan, a mountainous country of approximately 652,000square kilometres, shares borders with China, Iran, Pakistan,Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and a sector of the disputedterritory of Jammu and Kashmir that is controlled by Pakistan.About half of its territory is more than 2,000 metres above sea level.

In 2000, the United Nations Population Fund estimated thepopulation of Afghanistan at some 22.7 million (the most recentcensus was in 1979, when the population was reported to be about15.5 million). The major languages are Pashto and Dari/Farsi.


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northeast Iraq, though it was not known to have cooperated with Saddam Hussein.

For more information on Iraq and the use of terrorism, see Iraqi Ties to Terrorism fromthe Council on Foreign Relations.

The Security Council

The 15-memberUnited Nations Security Council did not authorize the March 19, 2003

attack on Iraq. It unanimously passed Resolution 1441 on November 8, 2002, calling

for new inspections intended to find and eliminate Iraq's weapons of mass destruction.(The Arms Control Association provides a chronology of previous weapons inspections

in Iraq.) Iraq accepted the renewed inspections, which were to be carried out by

UNMOVIC and the IAEA. Under the terms of the resolution, if Iraq obstructed their

work, the chief inspectors were to report promptly back to the Security Council, which

would "convene immediately" to consider the situation and "the need for full

compliance." The resolution also threatened "serious consequences" if Iraq failed to

comply.

The United States, backed by Britain and Spain, began to seek a second U.N. resolutionto declare Iraq in material breach of its obligation to disarm. Veto-wielding permanent

members France, Russia and China, as well as a number of other members, preferred togive inspectors more time on the premise that inspections were working. Up against a

deeply divided Council, the U.S. pulled its proposal on March 17.

The U.S. administration argued that it had enough legal support for its subsequentmilitary action, based on resolution 1441 as well as two previous Security Council

resolutions: 678, which in 1990 authorized the U.N. to take military action against Iraq,

and 687, which set the terms of the cease-fire at the end of the 1991 Gulf War.Administration lawyers said that because Iraq never lived up to the terms of the cease-

fire, the use force was now valid.

In answer to a question in parliament, Great Britains Attorney General Lord

Goldsmith issued a March 17th statement supporting the use of force against Iraq. TheAustralian Attorney Generals Department issued a memorandum on March 18th, also

supporting the use of force against Iraq.

Other Legal Issues

Nations at war are required to follow the law of war, also known as internationalhumanitarian law. Based on the Geneva Conventions of 1949 as well as customary

international law, the law of war regulates military operations in an attempt to protectcivilians from the devastation of war. The Center for Defense Information and Human

Rights Watch both offer useful discussions of humanitarian law.

DOCUMENTS

y Charter of the United Nations. Chapter VII, Article 42 states that if peacefulmeans have not succeeded in obtaining adherence to Security Council decisions,

the Security Council may take such action by air, sea or land forces as may benecessary to maintain or restore international peace and security. Chapter VII,

Article 51 allows for states to use force in self-defense.y Geneva Conventions and Additional Protocols. Parts of the Conventions are

also available here.

y The National Security Strategy of the United States of America

y U.N. Security Council Resolution 678 adopted November 29, 1990, authorizing

the U.N. to take military action against Iraq.


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y U.N. Security Council Resolution 687 adopted April 3, 1991, setting the termsof the cease-fire at the end of the 1991 Gulf War.

y U.N. Security Council Resolution 1284 adopted December 17, 1999,establishing UNMOVIC.

y U.N. Security Council Resolution 1441 adopted November 8, 2002, calling forrenewed weapons inspections.

y Iraq's letterto the United Nations of November 13, 2002, accepting renewed

arms inspections.

y United States Code Title 50, Chapter 33, the War Powers Resolution.

y U.S. House Joint Resolution signed October 16, 2002, authorizing the presidentto attack Iraq.

y British Attorney General Lord Goldsmiths March 17th statement supporting

the use of force against Iraq. This statement is also available here.

y The Australian Attorney Generals March 18th memorandum supporting the

use of force against Iraq.

ARTICLES AND COMMENTARY

y David M. Ackerman, International Law and the Preemptive Use of Force

Against Iraq, Congressional Research Service Report for Congress, (September23, 2002).

y David M. Ackerman, Response to Terrorism: Legal Aspects of the Use of

Military Force, Congressional Research Service, (September 13, 2001).

y Thomas M. Franck, When, If Ever, May States Deploy Military Force WithoutPrior Security Council Authorization? 5 Wash. U. J.L. & Pol'y 51 (2001).

y Gavan Griffith, Notes on the Legal Justification for the Invasion of Iraq andSecurity CouncilResolutions 678 and 1441, Sydney Morning Herald, (March

21, 2003).y Richard F. Grimmett, U.S. Use of Preemptive Military Force, Congressional

Research Service Report for Congress, (September 18, 2002).y Devika Hovell and George Williams, Nowhere to Hide Behind the Letter of the

Law (Sydney Morning Herald, March 19, 2003).y International Humanitarian Law Issues in a PotentialWarWith Iraq, Human

Rights Watch, (February 20, 2003).

y Iraq: Questions Regarding the Laws ofWar, Center for Defense Information

Terrorism Project, (March 18, 2003).

y Ali Khan, Above and Beyond International Law: George W. Bush as theAustinian Sovereign, JURIST University of Pittsburgh School of Law,

(March 31, 2003).

y Michael Kelly, Could the New International Criminal Court try Americans for

War Crimes in Iraq?, JURIST University of Pittsburgh School of Law,(March 17, 2003).

y Frederic L. Kirgis, Armed Force in Iraq, ASIL Insights, (March 18, 2003).

y Lawrence J. Lee, Mark R. Shulman et al., The Legality and Constitutionality of

the Presidents Authority to Initiate an Invasion of Iraq, 41 Colum. J.

Transnat'l L. 15, (2002).

y Mary Ellen O'Connell, The Myth of Preemptive Self-Defense, The American

Society of International Law Task Force on Terrorism, (August 2002).y The UnitedNations Charter and the Use of Force Against Iraq , Lawyers

Committee on Nuclear Policy, (October 2, 2002).

OTHERRESOURCES


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y The Arms Control Association

y Bill Slomanson's page on UN Security Resolution 1441

y Columbia International Affairs Online Special Section on U.S. Policy and Iraq

y Crimes of War Project The War in Iraq

y Crisis in Iraq from the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

y Electronic Iraq : International Lawy Iraqi Jurist's Association

y Links on International Law and Iraq from the Global Policy Forum

y Lawyers Committee on Nuclear Policyy Lawyers Against the War

y Legal Resources for U.S. Involvement in Afghanistan from the U.S.

Department of State

y The International Atomic Energy Agency

y Terrorism Answers from the Council on Foreign Relations

y University of Amsterdam International Law Library The Conflict with Iraq

y UNMOVIC

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