The UN Security Council never voted, due to the promise of a French veto. It was widely reported that we had the votes, until France hardened its position. In any event, the UN is incapable of enforcing its resolutions without the United States, and was clearly depending upon the United States to maintain containment. Thus, it made sense for us to decide when and how to fight.
But the main thing is, did Iraq constitute a threat in the context of the war on terrorism, that is, did it have the capacity to supply terrorists with biological or chemical agents to use against Western targets, particularly America? The answer is clearly yes, based on what Kay found, in terms of the maintenance of R&D and the conservation of strains of bacteria that could be weaponized. In addition, it is now established that there were links between Iraq and Al- Qaida, we just don't know how tight they were. Finally, we intervened in Serbia without UN mandate to forestall suspected genocide against the Kosovans, and in Iraq, there was clearly a brutal regime that was capable of genocide. We had every reason to resolve a situation that was dangerous to let fester and where his own country would clearly be better off with the fall of Saddam. |
