legality of war III
Extract: It is sometimes said that an attack would be justified because of Iraq?s refusal to allow weapons inspections in line with Security Council Resolution 687, which established a ceasefire at the end of the Gulf War in 1991. However the resolution did not make the ceasefire conditional on Iraq?s future cooperation with inspections; instead it said that the Security Council "decides to remain seized of the matter and to take such further steps as may be required for the implementation of the present resolution and to secure peace and security in the area". This seems to imply that another Security Council resolution would be needed to authorize further military action, and that has been the position taken by most international statesmen. For instance, French President Jacques Chirac said on July 30 that an attack "could only be justified if it were decided on by the Security Council," and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroder said there would be no support in Germany for a strike "without approval of the United Nations".



Perhaps the Australian and British legal opinions on 678 as source of authority for this war had not read the resolution.