[Stan Hunts]

I am having a bit of difficulty following your logic here. The US went into Iraq because Iraq violated Resolution 1441. The UN disapproved the unilateral action by the US, despite the fact that Resolution 1441 was violated. Therefore, it would seem that our action, unsanctioned by the UN, could not be said to have been in response to a violation of Resolution 1441, unless, of course, the UN is a paper tiger, in which case, Resolution 1441 is meaningless. If so, and I suspect that is true, the US took this step on its own authority and for its own reasons, whatever they may be. If we are big enough to stand up to our decision, we ought to be big enough not to hide behind a paper tiger.

It seems to me that, if you are going to permit a country to act unilaterally against a violation of a UN resolution, you cannot, in good conscience, insist that the violation was a valid reason for the action.

[gogipper]

Oh, thank goodness there's a lawyer speaking here.

[Recovering_Democrat]

The UN disapproved the unilateral action by the US, despite the fact that Resolution 1441 was violated.

What Security Council vote "disapproved" of U.S. action?

[Recovering_Democrat]

...the unilateral action by the US...

Unilateral? Really? Let's check out the Operation Iraqi Freedom info from the whitehouse.gov:

Contributions from Coalition member nations range from: direct military participation, logistical and intelligence support, specialized chemical/biological response teams, over-flight rights, humanitarian and reconstruction aid, to political support.

Forty-nine countries are publicly committed to the Coalition, including:

Afghanistan
Albania
Angola
Australia
Azerbaijan
Bulgaria
Colombia
Costa Rica
Czech Republic
Denmark
Dominican Republic
El Salvador
Eritrea
Estonia
Ethiopia
Georgia
Honduras
Hungary
Iceland
Italy
Japan
Kuwait
Latvia
Lithuania
Macedonia
Marshall Islands
Micronesia
Mongolia
Netherlands
Nicaragua
Palau
Panama
Philippines
Poland
Portugal
Romania
Rwanda
Singapore
Slovakia
Solomon Islands
South Korea
Spain
Tonga
Turkey
Uganda
Ukraine
United Kingdom
United States
Uzbekistan

This number is still growing, and it is no accident that many member nations of the Coalition recently escaped from the boot of a tyrant or have felt the scourge of terrorism. All Coalition member nations understand the threat Saddam Hussein's weapons pose to the world and the devastation his regime has wreaked on the Iraqi people.

• The population of Coalition countries is approximately 1.23 billion people.
• Coalition countries have a combined GDP of approximately $22 trillion.
• Every major race, religion, ethnicity in the world is represented.
• The Coalition includes nations from every continent on the globe.