THE US, THE UN AND IRAQ, ELEVENTH THREAD

George W. Bush, in his unprovoked attack against the sovereign nation of Iraq, openly violated the UN Charter, to which the US is a signatory. The Charter's core principles contained in Article 2(4) and Article 51 prohibit one nation from attacking another except in self-defense or with the authority of the U.N. In effect, George Bush launched an unlawful use of force against persons and property.

Update - September 27, 2006

"A Comprehensive Strategy to Fight Al-Qaeda"?
Rice versus Clinton on January 2001 Clarke Memo

Washington, D.C., September 27, 2006 - In a series of recent public statements, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has again denied that the Clinton administration presented the incoming administration of President George W. Bush with a "comprehensive strategy" against al-Qaeda. Rice's denials were prompted by a September 22 Fox News interview with Bill Clinton in which the former president asserted that he had "left a comprehensive anti-terror strategy" with the incoming Bush administration in January 2001. In a September 25 interview, Rice told the New York Post, "We were not left a comprehensive strategy to fight al-Qaida," adding that, "Nobody organized this country or the international community to fight the terrorist threat that was upon us until 9/11."

The crux of the issue is a January 25, 2001, memo on al-Qaeda from counterterrorism coordinator Richard Clarke to National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, the first terrorism strategy paper of the Bush administration. The document was central to the debate over pre-9/11 Bush administration policy on terrorism and figured prominently in the 9/11 hearings held in 2004. A declassified copy of the Clarke memo was first posted on the Web by the National Security Archive in February 2005.

Clarke's memo, described below, "urgently" requested a high-level National Security Council review on al-Qaeda and included two attachments: a declassified December 2000 "Strategy for Eliminating the Threat from the Jihadist Networks of al-Qida: Status and Prospects" and the September 1998 "Pol-Mil Plan for al-Qida," the so-called Delenda Plan, which remains classified.

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The US would have no qualms about following al Qaida into Pakistan whether it's against Pakistan's or international laws.
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GWBush dropped the search for al Qaida to plan his unlawful attack against Iraq based on lies about Saddam's WMDs that was never found after extensive search by our military after the invasion.

Quote:

George W. Bush, in his unprovoked attack against the sovereign nation of Iraq, openly violated the UN Charter, to which the US is a signatory. The Charter's core principles contained in Article 2(4) and Article 51 prohibit one nation from attacking another except in self-defense or with the authority of the U.N. In effect, George Bush launched an unlawful use of force against persons and property.

George W. Bush, in his unprovoked attack against the sovereign nation of Iraq, openly violated the UN Charter, to which the US is a signatory. The Charter's core principles contained in Article 2(4) and Article 51 prohibit one nation from attacking another except in self-defense or with the authority of the U.N. In effect, George Bush launched an unlawful use of force against persons and property.

U.S. and British officials say they had adequate UN authorization for military action against Iraq under Security Council Resolution 1441, which was passed late in 2002. That and previous resolutions called on Saddam Hussein to give up weapons of mass destruction. Security Council Resolution 1441 warned Iraq that there would be "consequences" if it did not comply with UN demands to disarm, but did not specify what those consequences should be.

Annan said in the interview that he believes the U.S.-led coalition preempted UN procedures by going to war without obtaining a second resolution specifically authorizing the forceful disarmament of Iraq.

Britain sought such a resolution early last year but was not able to convince fellow permanent members of the Security Council, France, Russia, and China, that force was needed in place of ongoing UN arms inspections.

Annan said in the interview that he believes

Security Council Resolution 1441 warned Iraq that there would be "consequences" if it did not comply with UN demands to disarm, but did not specify what those consequences should be.

When AQ went into Pakistan from Afghanistan, if we followed them into Pakistan without Pakistan's agreement, that would have been an invasion of Pakistan.