“UN precedent from the Korean War provided for the intended invasion of Iraq in Resolution 678”
Resolution 678 authorized force for the purpose of driving Iraq out of Kuwait. Not for invading and conquering Iraq. This was Desert Storm, Gulf War One.
Invading Iraq in 2003 was entirely the decision of Dubya and Tony Blair. The only recent UN Resolution was 1441 ordering Saddam Hussein to readmit UN observers. They didn’t bother getting UN authorization for an invasion. Passing the blame to the UN won’t work.
Remember that in passing Resolutions 687 and 1441 the permanent members could have restricted his authority, but they incorporated all previous resolutions without any modifications and that left the decision with Bush #2 as their chosen commander in chief.
The war against Saddam Hussein was resumed because Bush #2 finally obeyed UN and confirming Congressional mandates. The United States, heading a coalition exceeding that Churchill and Roosevelt assembled to confront Hitler’s Germany, toppled Hussein’s regime, and forced the UN to confront the reason for its’ existence.
The opinions regarding Bush #2 and Iraq are so strongly rooted in media and opposition declamations that they gain rather than lose stability when factual arguments are presented. The worse they fare in debates; the more persuaded adherents are that deeper ground must exist which contrary arguments cannot reach, regardless of their substance.
Atlantic Charter (twenty six countries) http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/atlantic-charter
The Coalition of the Willing (thirty six countries) http://web.stanford.edu/class/e297a/The%20Coalition%20of%20the%20Willing.htm