War in Iraq - 2003

Legal or illegal

President Bush first presented his argument for pre-emptive self-defense in his address to the United Nations General Assembly on September 12, 2002 when he said, "The first time we may be completely certain that Saddam Hussein has a nuclear weapon is when, God forbid, he uses one. We owe it to all our citizens to do everything in our power to prevent that day from coming."

Five days later he presented his case for pre-emptive self-defense with even more force in his "National Security Strategy", now known as the "Bush Doctrine", in which he vowed to defend: "The United States, the American people, and our interest at home and abroad by identifying and destroying the threat before it reaches our borders. While the United States will constantly strive to enlist the support of the international community, we will not hesitate to act alone, if necessary, to exercise our right of self-defense by acting pre-emptively against such terrorist, to prevent them from doing harm against our people and our country ---"

When President Bush pressed his case at the United Nations on September 12, 2002, he made it clear that the organization's continued relevance was being put to the test. "Are Security Council resolutions to be honored and enforced, or cast aside without consequence? Will the United Nations serve the purpose of its founding, or will it be irrelevant?" he asked.

An authorization by congress was sought by President Bush soon after his September 12, 2002 statement before the United Nations General Assembly asking for quick action by the Security Council in enforcing the Resolution against Iraq.
Of the legislation introduced by congress in response to President Bush's request, the Hastert-Gephardt proposal became the primary focus of legislative attention. The House of Representatives, on Thursday afternoon, passed the Resolution 296 to 133 and the Senate passed it early Friday morning, 77 to 23. It was signed into law as "Public Law 107-243" by President Bush on October 16, 2002. A total of 86 Democratic Representatives voted for this law and 29 Democratic Senators did likewise. Note; At the time of that vote the Democrats held a 50 to 49 edge over Republicans with 1 Independent.

On February 5, 2003, after weeks of sorting through Intelligence reports (facts and fiction) United States Secretary of State, Colin Powell, went before the United Nations Security Council and laid out the Bush Administration's case against Iraq. His argument could be divided into two main topics. The first centered on the premise that Iraq had to face the penelties for having ignored numerous Security Council Resolutions. "Last November 8, this council passed Resolution 1441 by an unanimous vote," the Secretary said, "The purpose of that resolution was to disarm Iraq of its weapons of mass destruction. Iraq has already been found guilty of material breach of its obligations, stretching back over 16 previous resolutions and 12 years." After asserting that Iraq still maintained a banned weapons program and had not complied with inspectors as required, Powell noted: "Iraq has now placed itself in danger of the serious consequences called for in United Nations Resolution 1441. And this body places itself in danger of irrelevance if it allows Iraq to continue to defy its will without responding effectively and immediately."

On March 20, 2003 - 43 days after Secretary of State, Colin Powell, presented the United State's case to the United Nations Security Council and there being no apparent effort by that Council to rectify the situation -- the war in Iraq began by coalation troops from the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and Poland.

Some of the same politicians who spoke for and voted for the resolution for the taking out of Saddam Hussein's Regime are now saying "The Bush Administration" lied about the need to carry it out but if that is true then why was former President Clinton and members of his administration, also congressmen and women, saying basically the same thing in the years 1998 through 2002? Example; "Saddam Hussein has been engaged in the development of weapons of mass destruction technology which is a threat to countries in the region and he has made a mockery of the weapon inspection process." - (Nancy Pelosi, D.Ca.), "He will use those weapons of mass destruction again, as he has done ten times since 1983." (Sandy Berger, Clinton National Security Adviser. 2/18/98), "One way or another, we are determined to deny Iraq the capacity to develop weapons of mass destruction and the missiles to deliver them. That is the bottom line." (President Clinton, 2/17/98)


In January of 2003 a CBS poll found that 64 percent of U.S. Citizens had approved of military action against Iraq.

On September 4, 2010 a Fox News Opinion Dynamics poll found that 58 percent of us think the United States did the right thing in taking out Saddam Hussein's Regime while only about one third think we were wrong. Also, in that same poll, 54 percent think President Bush deserves the credit for the success in that war while only 19 percent think President Obama should get the credit.

Right or wrong, I don't know because I don't pretend to have all the facts, but with what little I do know at this time I would vote with the majority in those polls. Until the next time, thanks and stay tuned. - William