Foreign Policy Review 1/2003. [antikvár]

The Iraqi War And International Law: Surrealist Questions? By Prof. Dr. János Bruhács* 1. The war against Iraq, commenced by the United States, Britain and somé of their allies1 /hereafter: the Coaütion/ on March 20, 2003, evoked widespread and emotional reactions within the ranks of the states of the international community, international institutions, the média, international public opinion and last, but not least, the international lawyers. Beyond morál considerations, all wars are, over and above, a political problem and as such, they must be evaluated in the context of the war's aims, the relationship between former and other available mechanisms and resources, the expected advantages and probable disadvantages, in particular with regard to the system of international relations, as well as the short- and long-term effects on their institutions, etc. In connection with the Iraqi war - not surprisingly - the various views manifested by the above-mentioned actors oscillated in the extreme, even in a diametrically opposite direction. Yet, it seerns that a common point ofreference emerged from the myriad of opinions with respect to the legitimacy of the war conducted by the Coalition, i.e. whether or not it is in compliance with international law and - above all - with the UN Charter: whether illegitimate or internationally wrongful acts have been committed. These issues are, par excellence, problems of international law. The question is whether this bifocal approach of international law with regard to the Iraqi war, i.e. legitimacy versus illegitimacy is not an over-simplification, e.g. how can the behaviour of states be measured by the legal-illegal yardstick, especially in the most essential areas of international law.2 2. Based on the above observations, this study will examine the Iraqi war in terms of the basic tenets of international law, the relevant passages of the UN Charter, and the UN Security Council resolutions.3 Due to the nature of the issue, an in-depth analysis of these de iure conditio rules of international law or corresponding literature cannot be carried out. Neither can the extremely rich official material nor the views expressed in the média be presented in their entirety; moreover, despite the extensive amount of information several fundamental factors are unknown or anibiguous. Finally, this study is only a preliminary one and its deductions must be revised in light of emerging scholarly analyses.