Editing Iraq disarmament crisis

{{Short description|Early 2000s diplomatic crisis}}
{{redirect|Iraq crisis|the Iraq Crisis that began in 2011|Iraqi insurgency (2011–2013)}}
{{More citations needed|date=November 2024}}
[[File:Colin Powell anthrax vial. 5 Feb 2003 at the UN.jpg|thumb|[[Colin Powell]] holding a model vial of [[anthrax]] while giving a presentation to the [[United Nations Security Council]] in February 2003]]
[[File:WeaponsInspector.JPG|thumb|A UN weapons inspector in Iraq in November 2002]]

The '''Iraq disarmament crisis''' was claimed as one of the primary issues that led to the [[Multi-National Force – Iraq|multinational]] [[2003 invasion of Iraq|invasion]] of [[Ba'athist Iraq|Iraq]] on 20 March 2003.

Since the 1980s, Iraq was widely assumed to have been producing and extensively running the programs of [[Iraqi biological weapons program|biological]], [[Iraqi chemical weapons program|chemical]] and [[Iraq and weapons of mass destruction|nuclear weapons]]. Iraq made extensive use of chemical weapons during the [[Iran–Iraq War]] in the 1980s, including [[Anfal genocide|against its own Kurdish population]]. France and the Soviet Union assisted Iraq in the development of its nuclear program, but its primary facility was destroyed by [[Israel]] in 1981 in a [[Operation Opera|surprise air strike]].

After the [[Gulf War]] in 1990, the [[United Nations Special Commission]] located and destroyed large quantities of Iraqi chemical weapons and related equipment and materials with varying degrees of Iraqi cooperation and obstruction, but the Iraqi cooperation later diminished in 1998.<ref>
Cleminson, Ronald. [http://www.armscontrol.org/act/2003_09/Cleminson_09 What Happened to Saddam's Weapons of Mass Destruction?] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110812124207/http://www.armscontrol.org/act/2003_09/Cleminson_09 |date=2011-08-12 }} Arms Control Association. September 2003
</ref> The disarmament issue remained tense throughout the [[Iraq disarmament timeline 1990–2003|1990s]] with U.S. at the UN, repeatedly demanding Iraq to allow inspections teams to its facilities. These crises reached their climax in 2002-2003, when [[President of the United States|U.S. President]] [[George W. Bush]] demanded a complete end to what he alleged was Iraqi production of [[Iraq and weapons of mass destruction|weapons of mass destruction]], and reasoned with [[President of Iraq|Iraqi President]] [[Saddam Hussein]] to comply with [[List of United Nations Security Council resolutions concerning Iraq|UN Resolutions]] requiring [[UN weapons inspectors]] unfettered access to areas those inspectors thought might have weapons production facilities.

Since the [[Gulf War]] in 1991, [[United Nations Security Council and the Iraq War|Iraq had been restricted]] by the [[United Nations]] (UN) from developing or possessing such weapons. It was also required to permit inspections to confirm Iraqi compliance. Bush repeatedly backed demands for unfettered inspection and disarmament with threats of invasion. On 20 March 2003, a [[Multinational force in Iraq|multinational alliance]] containing the armed forces of the [[United States armed forces|United States]] and [[British forces|United Kingdom]] launched an [[2003 invasion of Iraq|invasion of Iraq]]. After the [[Withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq (2007–2011)|withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq]] in 2011, a number of [[failed Iraqi peace initiatives]] were revealed.

==Background==
{{See also|List of United Nations Security Council resolutions concerning Iraq|l1=United Nations Security Council resolutions concerning Iraq|United Nations Security Council Resolution 687|l2=UNSCR 687|United Nations Security Council Resolution 699|l3=UNSCR 699|United Nations Security Council Resolution 707|l4=UNSCR 707|United Nations Security Council Resolution 715|l5=UNSCR 715|United Nations Security Council Resolution 949|l6=UNSCR 949|United Nations Security Council Resolution 1051|l7=UNSCR 1051|United Nations Security Council Resolution 1060|l8=UNSCR 1060|United Nations Security Council Resolution 1115|l9=UNSCR 1115|United Nations Security Council Resolution 1134|l10=UNSCR 1134|United Nations Security Council Resolution 1137|l11=UNSCR 1137|United Nations Security Council Resolution 1154|l12=UNSCR 1154|United Nations Security Council Resolution 1194|l13=UNSCR 1194|United Nations Security Council Resolution 1205|l14=UNSCR 1205|United Nations Security Council Resolution 1284|l15=UNSCR 1284}}
{{Events leading to the Iraq War}}
In the decade following the 1991 Gulf War, the United Nations passed 16 [[United Nations Security Council Resolution|Security Council resolutions]] calling for the complete elimination of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction. [[United Nations member states|Member states]] communicated their frustration over the years that Iraq was impeding the work of the UN Special Commission and failing to take seriously its disarmament obligations. Iraqi security forces had on several occasions physically prevented weapons inspectors from doing their job and in at least one case, took documents from them.

On 29 September 1998, the [[United States Congress]] passed the ''[[Iraq Liberation Act]]'' supporting the efforts of [[Iraqi anti-Saddam groups|Iraqi opposition groups]] to remove Saddam Hussein from office. The Act was signed by President Clinton on 31 October 1998. On the same day, Iraq announced it would no longer cooperate with United Nations weapons inspectors.

The UN, under [[Kofi Annan]], brokered a deal wherein Iraq would allow weapons inspectors back into the country. Iraq ceased cooperating with inspectors only days later. The inspectors left the country in December. Inspectors returned the following year as part of The [[United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission]] (UNMOVIC).

[[Paul Wolfowitz]], the military analyst for the [[United States Department of Defense]] under [[Ronald Reagan]], had formulated a new [[United States foreign policy|foreign policy]] with regard to Iraq and other "potential aggressor states", dismissing "containment" in favor of "[[Preemptive war|preemption]]", with the goal of striking first to eliminate threats.

This policy was short-lived, however, and Clinton, along with [[George H. W. Bush]], [[Colin Powell]], and other former Bush administration officials, dismissed calls for preemption in favor of continued containment. This was the policy of George W. Bush as well for his first several months in office. The [[September 11, 2001 attacks]] brought to life Wolfowitz's and other "hawks'" advocacy for [[pre-emptive war|preemptive action]]; Iraq was widely agreed to be a likely subject of this new policy. Powell continued to support the philosophy behind containment.

Following the Gulf War, the [[Iraqi Army]] was reduced to 23 divisions with a total of about 375,000 troops. The [[Iraqi Air Force]] was reduced to less than 300 aircraft. The [[Iraqi Navy]] was almost completely destroyed, and its few remaining operational vessels were in a poor state of repair, the crews were estimated to be in a poor state of readiness, and its capabilities were reduced to that of limited mining and raiding missions.<ref>
{{cite web |author=John Pike |url=http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/iraq/navy.htm |title=Iraqi Navy |publisher=Globalsecurity.org |access-date=2013-06-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130401124247/http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/iraq/navy.htm |archive-date=2013-04-01 |url-status=live }}
</ref> Any rebuilding that was done went into the [[Republican Guard (Iraq)|Republican Guard]], and the formation of the [[Special Republican Guard]].

==2002–2003==
{{Main|United Nations Security Council Resolution 1441}}
[[File:Powell UN Iraq presentation, alleged Mobile Production Facilities.jpg|thumb|300px|Diagram of alleged Mobile Production Facility For Biological Agents, presented by [[Colin Powell]] before the [[United Nations]].]]
During late 2002 and into 2003, the [[United States government]] continued to call for "[[regime change]]" in [[Iraq]] and threatened to use military force to overthrow the Iraqi government unless Iraq rid itself of all [[weapons of mass destruction]] (WMD) it supposedly possessed and convinced the UN that it had done so.

US diplomatic pressure to bring Iraq to compliance quickly created a diplomatic crisis in the UN, where some members were in agreement with the U.S. position, while others dissented, notably the permanent Security Council members [[France]], [[Russia]] and the [[People's Republic of China]], and fellow [[NATO]] members [[Germany]] and [[Belgium]].

The [[Presidency of George W. Bush|Bush administration]] began a military buildup in the region, and after pushing hard gained passage of [[UN Security Council Resolution 1441]]. Led by [[Hans Blix]], Head of the [[United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission]] (UNMOVIC) and [[Mohamed ElBaradei]] [[Director General]] of the [[International Atomic Energy Agency]] (IAEA), the Resolution brought weapons inspectors back to Iraq in November 2002.

Inspectors began visiting sites where WMD production was suspected, but found no evidence of such activities, except for 18 undeclared empty 122&nbsp;mm chemical rockets that were destroyed under UNMOVIC supervision. [https://www.un.org/Depts/unmovic/new/documents/quarterly_reports/s-2003-580.pdf P. 30] Inspectors also found that the Al-Samoud-2 and Al-fatah missiles violated the UN range restrictions, the former also being partially destroyed under UNMOVIC supervision.

On March 7, 2003 Hans Blix reported accelerated cooperation throughout the month of February but it was still not "immediate" and "unconditional" as called for by UN Security Council Resolution 1441.<ref>
[http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0303/S00109.htm Blix welcomes accelerated cooperation by Iraq] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071214012428/http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0303/S00109.htm |date=2007-12-14 }} [[Scoop (news website)|Scoop]] March 7, 2003
</ref> He informed the UN security council that "it will not take years, nor weeks, but months" to verify whether Iraq had complied with its disarmament obligations.<ref>
[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/2829213.stm Blix: Inspectors 'need months'] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060309004101/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/2829213.stm |date=2006-03-09 }} [[BBC News]] March 7, 2003
</ref><ref>
[http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/03/07/sprj.irq.un.transcript.blix/index.html Transcript of Blix's U.N. presentation] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161109052347/http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/03/07/sprj.irq.un.transcript.blix/index.html |date=2016-11-09 }} [[CNN]] March 7, 2003
</ref>

U.S. President [[George W. Bush]] and [[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom|British Prime Minister]] [[Tony Blair]] met in the [[Azores]] islands for an "emergency summit" over the weekend of March 15–16, 2003, after which Bush declared that, despite Blix's report, "diplomacy had failed" to compel Iraq to comply with UN Resolution inspection requirements, and stated his intention to use military force to attack Iraq in what was, according to the Bush administration, compliance with the threat of "serious consequences" in UN 1441.

==UNSC disagreement==
[[File:Bush 2002 UNGA.jpg|thumb|[[George W. Bush]] addressed the [[General Assembly of the United Nations]] on 12 September 2002 to outline the complaints of the United States government against the Iraqi government]]

Several close allies of the U.S. (e.g. [[Germany]], [[Belgium]] and [[France]]) opposed a [[military intervention]] because they asserted it would increase rather than decrease the risk of [[terrorist]] attacks. Although the [[British government]] and some governments of other members of the [[European Union|EU]] and [[NATO]] supported the US position, opinion polls show that in general their populations were against an attack, especially an attack without clear UN Security Council support.<ref>{{Cite news|date=2003-02-11|title=Polls find Europeans oppose Iraq war|language=en-GB|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/2747175.stm|access-date=2020-06-09}}</ref> Millions of people in the major cities of [[Europe]], and hundreds of thousands in major cities of [[North America]], participated in [[February 15, 2003 anti-war protest|peace marches]] on 15 February 2003.<ref>{{Cite news|date=2003-02-17|title=Millions join global anti-war protests|language=en-GB|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/2765215.stm|access-date=2020-06-09}}</ref>

===Statements by President Bush===
On 7 October 2002 President Bush stated:
<blockquote>''Eleven years ago, as a condition for ending the Persian Gulf War, the Iraqi regime was required to destroy its weapons of mass destruction, to cease all development of such weapons, and to stop all support for terrorist groups. The Iraqi regime has violated all of those obligations. It possesses and produces chemical and biological weapons. It is seeking nuclear weapons. It has given shelter and support to terrorism, and practices terror against its own people. The entire world has witnessed Iraq's eleven-year history of defiance, deception and bad faith.''<ref>
{{cite web |url=https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2002/10/20021007-8.html |title=President Bush Outlines Iraqi Threat |publisher=Georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov |access-date=2013-06-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130307072110/http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2002/10/20021007-8.html |archive-date=2013-03-07 |url-status=live }}
</ref></blockquote>

On 17 March 2003 Bush stated in an address to the nation:

<blockquote>''Intelligence gathered by this and other governments leaves no doubt that the Iraq regime continues to possess and conceal some of the most lethal weapons ever devised. This regime has already used weapons of mass destruction against Iraq's neighbors and against Iraq's people.''<ref>
{{cite web |url=https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2003/03/20030317-7.html |title=President Says Saddam Hussein Must Leave Iraq Within 48 Hours |publisher=Georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov |access-date=2013-06-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130506075201/http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2003/03/20030317-7.html |archive-date=2013-05-06 |url-status=live }}
</ref></blockquote>

Two days later on March 19, 2003, as the invasion of Iraq began, Bush stated in an address to the nation:

<blockquote>''"My fellow citizens, at this hour, American and coalition forces are in the early stages of military operations to disarm Iraq, to free its people and to defend the world from grave danger.''<ref>
{{cite web |url=https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2003/03/20030319-17.html |title=President Bush Addresses the Nation |publisher=Georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov |access-date=2013-06-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130529111824/http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2003/03/20030319-17.html |archive-date=2013-05-29 |url-status=live }}
</ref></blockquote>

===Statement by Russian President Vladimir Putin===
On October 11, 2002, [[Russian President]] [[Vladimir Putin]] met with then British Prime Minister [[Tony Blair]]. At a news conference, he said:

: ''[[Russia]] does not have in its possession any trustworthy data that supports the existence of nuclear weapons or any weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and we have not received any such information from our partners as yet.''<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/Iraq/Story/0,2763,810093,00.html Russian rebuff for Blair over Iraq] The Guardian October 11, 2002</ref>

===Statements by French President Jacques Chirac===
In a February 2003 joint declaration by Russia, Germany and France, [[Jacques Chirac]] remarked:

: ''As far as France is concerned, we are ready to envisage everything that can be done under UNSCR 1441. ... But I repeat that every possibility offered by the present resolution must be explored, that there are a lot of them and they still leave us with a lot of leeway when it comes to ways of achieving the objective of eliminating any weapons of mass destruction which may exist in Iraq. I'd like nevertheless to note that, as things stand at the moment, I have, to my knowledge, no indisputable proof in this sphere.''<ref>
[https://pastel.diplomatie.gouv.fr/editorial/actual/ael2/bulletin.gb.asp?liste=20030211.gb.html JOINT DECLARATION BY RUSSIA, GERMANY AND FRANCE ON IRAQ] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110512001853/https://pastel.diplomatie.gouv.fr/editorial/actual/ael2/bulletin.gb.asp?liste=20030211.gb.html |date=2011-05-12 }}  France Diplomatie February 10, 2003
</ref>

==Legality==
{{Main|Legality of the Iraq War}}

===Authority under International Law===
The position of whether the invasion was legal under [[international law]] is unclear. Article 2 of the [[United Nations Charter]] forbids UN members from employing "the threat or use of force" against other states in a manner inconsistent with the purposes of the United Nations. Two exceptions exist to the rule: self-defense (Article 51) or an authorization by the Security Council to protect international peace and security (Chapter VII).

The government of the United States said publicly, and the British pledged privately, that they were willing to invade Iraq with or without Security Council authorization.<ref>
[http://politics.guardian.co.uk/iraq/story/0,,1700881,00.html Blair-Bush deal before Iraq war revealed in secret memo] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071127195733/http://politics.guardian.co.uk/iraq/story/0,,1700881,00.html |date=2007-11-27 }} [[The Guardian]] February 3, 2006
</ref>

There have been two military actions carried out with the approval of the Security Council. These two instances were the [[Korean War]] and the [[1991 Gulf War]].

The United States does not recognize the jurisdiction of any international court over its citizens or military, holding that the [[United States Supreme Court]] is its final authority. One example of this policy is that the United States did not ratify the [[International Criminal Court]] (ICC) treaty, and on 6 May 2002 it informed the UN that it has no intention to do so.

As of 24 February 2005 neither Iraq nor the United States have ratified the ICC treaty, and therefore neither the US attack on Iraq nor subsequent actions in Iraq fall under the jurisdiction of the ICC. The actions of signatories such as the United Kingdom and [[Spain]] could however fall under the ICC jurisdiction.

On March 17, 2003, [[Peter Goldsmith, Baron Goldsmith|Peter Goldsmith]], [[Attorney General for England and Wales]], set out his government's legal justification for an invasion of Iraq. He said that the 1990 [[United Nations Security Council Resolution 678|Security Council Resolution 678]] authorised force against Iraq, which was suspended but not terminated by the 1991 [[United Nations Security Council Resolution 687|Resolution 687]], which imposed continuing obligations on Iraq to eliminate its weapons of mass destruction. A material breach of resolution 687 would revive the authority to use force under resolution 678. In Resolution 1441 the Security Council determined that Iraq was in material breach of resolution 687 because it had not fully carried out its obligations to disarm, and in early 2003 sent teams of weapons inspectors to verify the [[facts on the ground]].

Most member governments of the United Nations Security Council made clear that in their view, after resolution 1441 there was still no authorization for the use of force and that the invasion was illegal under international law.<ref>
{{cite web |url=http://www.worldpress.org/specials/iraq/ |title=International Law - War in Iraq - United Nations - Iraq |publisher=Worldpress.org |access-date=2013-06-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130730223344/http://worldpress.org/specials/iraq/ |archive-date=2013-07-30 |url-status=live }}
</ref> However, the US and its allies argued that no resolution authorizing the invasion would be necessary as they acted in self-defense under Article 51 of the UN Charter and by [[customary international law]]. The exercise of that right could not be banned by ceasefire. Since Iraq was not actively disarming themselves of its alleged WMDs and hid them from UN inspectors, the US and its allies claimed they had the right to assume that Iraq was holding WMDs. If the UN failed to force compliance, the US and the UK - as parties of the 1991 conflict - would invade Iraq without the UN, as they had already done in their intervention in the [[Kosovo War]]. [[Yoram Dinstein]] equates this to [[police officers]] cornering a convicted violent felon and saying "put your hands on your head", but instead he pulls something small and black (whether a gun or not) out of his pocket. Officers would have been justified in shooting him because he could have possessed something that is dangerous.<ref>{{cite book |title=War, Aggression and Self-Defence |pages=298–299 |date=December 12, 2011 |author=Yoram Dinstein |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]}}</ref>

===Authority under US Constitution===
The [[US Constitution|Constitution]] grants the power to declare war exclusively to the [[United States Congress]], but declares the President to be [[Commander-in-Chief]] of the [[US military]]. Because of this division of power, there has long been controversy regarding the authority of the President outside of a declared war. Nonetheless, of the many instances the United States has exercised force outside its borders, only five have been as part of a [[Declaration of war by the United States|declared war]].

In 1973, amid increasing domestic controversy about the [[Vietnam War]], Congress passed the [[War Powers Resolution]] to limit the ability of the president to undertake prolonged military action without Congressional authority. No president since has recognized the constitutionality of this act, and most legal scholars believe it would not survive a challenge in court.

To avoid initiating a crisis under the War Powers Resolution, the Bush administration sought explicit approval from the Congress to exercise force in Iraq. On October 9, 2002, the Congress passed the [[Iraq Resolution]] which explicitly authorized the President to use the Armed Forces of the United States as he determines to be necessary and appropriate. This raises the issue of whether or not Congress has the authority to delegate legislative power to the executive branch.  However, in a recent [[United States Supreme Court]] case, ''[[Hamdan v. Rumsfeld]],'' the Supreme Court ruled that the [[military commissions]] that the President had established, (and defended by arguing that he was given the power to create military courts by this resolution), were unconstitutional because they were unauthorized by Congress.

The Constitution also provides that international treaties ratified by the United States are among the highest law of the land ([[US Constitution]], Article VI). The UN Charter is a treaty ratified by the US, which forbids member states, including the US, from attacking fellow member states, including Iraq, except in two carefully circumscribed situations (see [[UN Charter]]).

==Aftermath==
After the invasion of Iraq, the [[Iraq Survey Group]], headed by [[David Kay]] was formed to find the alleged weapons of mass destruction. Apart from a small quantity of degraded pre-1991 shells, nothing was found.<ref>
{{cite web |last=Hanley |first=Charles J. |url=https://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2005-09-02-WMD-indepth_x.htm |title=Piecing together the story of the weapons that weren't |work=USA Today |date=2005-09-06 |access-date=2013-06-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120925111915/http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2005-09-02-WMD-indepth_x.htm |archive-date=2012-09-25 |url-status=live }}
</ref>

==See also==
* [[Curveball (informant)]] - False informant about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq
* [[Disarmament of Libya]]
* [[Views on the 2003 invasion of Iraq]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/2857347.stm UK Attorney General's Iraq response] - BBC News
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/1915996.stm Blair - "We are ready to act on Iraq"] - BBC News
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20030316065557/http://slate.msn.com/id/2079678/ Bully Bush] - Slate Magazine
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20020914104551/http://www.iiss.org/news-more.php?itemID=88  Iraq's Weapons of Mass Destruction: A Net Assessment] - International Institute for Strategic Studies
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20081130173110/http://www.wsws.org/category/me-iraq.shtml News & Analysis: Iraq] - World Socialist Web Site
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20021124113736/http://www.washtimes.com/world/20020816-17858616.htm Rice makes case against Iraq to Britain] -  Washington Times
* [https://www.motherjones.com/news/feature/2003/10/ma_273_01.html The Thirty Year Itch] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20031004153751/http://www.motherjones.com/news/feature/2003/10/ma_273_01.html |date=2003-10-04 }} - Mother Jones
* [http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110003156 When Will Americans Come?] - Wall Street Journal
* [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2003/03/02/IN123519.DTL  Who Armed Iraq?] - San Francisco Chronicle
* [http://www.truthaboutwar.org/ Examines Reasons for War] - American Liberty Foundation
* [https://www.theguardian.com/Iraq/Story/0,2763,914020,00.html Law unto themselves] - Guardian
{{Iraq War}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Iraq Disarmament Crisis}}
[[Category:History of the foreign relations of the United States]]
[[Category:Iraq and weapons of mass destruction]]
[[Category:Iraq–United Kingdom relations]]
[[Category:Iraq–United States relations]]
[[Category:Military disbanding and disarmament]]