In an interview with Owen Bennett-Jones of BBC World Service Sept. 15 at United Nations headquarters in New York City, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan called the U.S.-led war in Iraq “illegal.” After Iraq failed to comply with the weapons inspection process, there should have been a second U.N. resolution, he said.
“It was up to the Security Council to approve or determine what those consequences should be,” Annan said.
When asked if the United States had legal authority to go to war with Iraq, Annan replied, “I have stated clearly that it was not in conformity with the Security Council – with the U.N. Charter.”
“It was illegal?” Bennett-Jones asked twice.
“Yes, I have indicated it is not in conformity with the U.N. Charter, from our point of view and from the Charter point of view it was illegal,” Annan answered.
Representatives of nations that backed the invasion, such as Australia, the United Kingdom, and Poland, defended their decisions to support the United States.
“The legal advice that we had, and I tabled it at the time, was that the action was entirely valid in international law terms,” Australian Prime Minister John Howard told Radio Australia.
Richard Boucher, a spokesman for the U.S. State Department, also said that the invasion was legitimate, the BBC reported.
“While we respect (Annan’s) views, I think we have made it clear we don’t agree,” he said.
France’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Michael Barrier agreed with Annan.
“You well know that what explains our country’s disagreement with the way the war was carried out was that it clearly did not at that time abide by international law,” he said during a joint press conference with New Zealand Foreign Minister Phil Goff on Sept. 17. “There was not a clear request from the United States to start that action.”
In a speech made to the U.N. Sept. 16, President George W. Bush did not direct any comments to Annan, but said that the decision to invade was justified, and called on the U.N. to continue to help the war-torn country.
Bush added that interim Iraqi prime minister Iyad Allawi has “earned the support of every nation that believes in self-determination and desires peace.”
The timing of Annan’s statements raised suspicions from Randy Scheunemann, a former advisor to Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld.
“To do this 51 days before an American election reeks of political interference,” he told the BBC.
Annan warned that Iraq needs to step up its security if its landmark elections, scheduled for January, are to occur. Violence in major cities such as Baghdad continues to pose a threat to Iraqi citizens. Arab television network Al Jazeera has reported that the number of U.N. staff in Iraq has been restricted to 35 members in the International Zone, which is protected by U.S. forces.
“You cannot have credible elections if the security conditions continue as they are now,” Annan said.