I'm interested to see whether a non-American would even attempt to refute this statement I've heard all the usual arguments for the war, but they're only ever made by Americans (or coalition politicians/military). If there are no takers, I invite our American brethren to take up their pitchforks and flaming torches and lecture me about bringing forth democracy and capitalism to the downtrodden masses. P.s. Don't take me too seriously, we Aussies like to make fun of those we love more than anyone else
From memory the chief investigator for WMDs on the ground in Iraq was an Australian...it was on HIS advice that the shit started to hit the fan...
I'd forgotten that - Richard Butler! Became the Governor of Tasmania too. IIRC he was still opposed to the invasion.
By HIS advice I mean he said there was a likelihood that there were WMDs - but probably in trucks being moved around so he and his team couldn't find them...The decision to invade wasnt his.
Safe war (for the invader) makes war certain. It is well that war is so terrible, otherwise we should grow too fond of it.
There didn't need to be any WMDs to make resumption of the war legal. We were in a ceasefire. That cease-fire could end with any single violation of the terms of the agreement. The UN security council issued sixty (60!) resolutions against Iraq for violations of the agreement. We should have resumed the war about a week after the ceasefire began instead of screwing around for ten years. .
Remembering the Halabja Massacre xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Don't forget this tragedy and the suffering of the Kurds. YPG, SDF friends of civilization who defeated isis on the ground for all of us, when legitimate (?) governments were running away at Palmyra, Manbij, Kobane, Mosul, Raqqa and Tabqah. Their courage from Kobane to Raqqa, to me, is most inspiring. I have friends who had to escape Halabja and the Mukhabarat by fleeing over the mountains to Turkey, It was still bitter cold up there in March 1988 and many died of starvation and exposure. Of course there are two sides to every story but it is also highly debatable that Saddam should have been allowed to survive Gulf War GHW Bush and his atrocities in Kuwait. 2003 would then have - possibly - been moot. Too bad Bremer made an absolute bollocks of his time influencing Baghdad's Reconstruction and interim government. Sadly Baghdad is still in complete paralytic disarray, Sunni - Shia sheesh. With very little hope of digging out of the festering civil war - ever. Just my $1.49. .
Sounds like North Korea better sleep with both eyes open then! And then who? China's next door, and they've really been asking for it! So why did the US wait all those years to resume the war ? It seems like it had 60 'good' reasons to do so before 2003. It doesn't strike anyone as coincidental that Bush was pushing the case for an invasion of Iraq within a week of 9/11, and Rumsfeld on 9/11 itself?
In summary it has yet to be proven or even well supported that the two opinions in the title are correct or well founded.
Proving the illegality of the invasion rests with the Security Council under United Nations Charter Articles 39-42. This would be a pointless exercise, however, as the US and UK hold veto power. However, the following proves the underlying illegality of the war: UN Security Council Resolutions 660, 678 and 1441 did enable action to be taken if Iraq didn't toe the line, but they also laid out the conditions that had to be met before war could be declared. These conditions were not met and the Security Council, which is only authorised to use force against an "aggressor" in the interests of preserving peace, did not authorise the war.
Not defending one side or the other, but I feel there is a chronological disconnect here. Bush was sworn in as president in late January 2001. 9/11 was 8 months later. The invasion of Iraq occured in March 2003.
The UN charter specifically allows for countries to act in self defense. No Resolution is needed for them to do so. Self defense includes responding to attacks on the armed forces of a country while performing legitimate tasks.
I guess Bush senior did not invade Iraq because it could be Vietnam 2. Civil war and post-war US casualties would be inevitable. Now as American troops have been pulled away the empty space new radical troops pour in. Russia steps in. Iranian troops. Turkey takes its part. Putin at least enjoys having more power in the area 'for free'.