Bush invaded Iraq without the final resolution from the UN Security Council. He moved illegally against the Senate and House directives legislated to direct the Executive Branch's actions. The House never impeached him and they should have, without a second thought. He acted against the wishes of the people of the USA.
March 17, 2003
President Says Saddam Hussein Must Leave Iraq Within 48 Hours
THE PRESIDENT: My fellow citizens, events in Iraq have now reached the final days of decision. For more than a decade, the United States and other nations have pursued patient and honorable efforts to disarm the Iraqi regime without war. That regime pledged to reveal and destroy all its weapons of mass destruction as a condition for ending the Persian Gulf War in 1991.
New York - Press Encounter with the Secretary-General at the Security Council stakeout
17 March
SG: Good morning, ladies and gentlemen.
I've just come out of a [Security] Council meeting where we discussed the situation in Iraq. Obviously the members of the Council who had hoped for a long time that it ought to be possible to disarm Iraq peacefully and had hoped to be able to come up with a common position, are today disappointed and frustrated and are worried that they were not able to muster the collective will to find a common basis to move ahead. And obviously, we seem to be at the end of the road here.
Yesterday UNMOVIC, the [International] Atomic [Energy] Agency and myself got information from the United States authorities that it would be prudent not to leave our staff in the region. I have just informed the Council that we will withdraw the UNMOVIC and Atomic Agency inspectors, we will withdraw the UN humanitarian workers, we will withdraw the UNIKOM troops on the Iraqi-Kuwaiti border who are also not able to operate. The implication of these withdrawals will mean that the mandates will be suspended because it will be inoperable. We can not, for example, handle the Oil for Food when we do not have inspectors to monitor the imports, we do not have oil inspectors who will monitor exports of oil, and we don't have the humanitarian personnel who will monitor the distribution, receipt and distribution of the food supply. So, I have informed the Council of these suspensions.
This does not mean that, should war come to Iraq, the UN will sit back and not do anything to help the Iraqi population. We will find a way of resuming our humanitarian activities to help the Iraqi people who have suffered for so long and do whatever we can to give them assistance and support. And as you know we have undertaken major contingency planning to be able to move forward as soon as we can.
Q: Did you get an authorization from the Security Council to withdraw these inspectors or did you use the measures you have available to you, temporary relocation of the inspectors?
SG: It is relocation of the inspectors, and the Council has taken note of my decision.
Q: Should the United States go ahead and its allies and use military action against Iraq without UN Security Council authorization, would that be in violation of international law according to you?
SG: I think my position on that is very clear. The Council will have to discuss that also.
Q: Do you believe part of 1441, is it legal or not legal?
SG: I think I have made my position very clear on that and I have indicated to you that if ... let's have a bit of order and calm here....I have made it very clear that in my judgement if the Council were to be able to manage this process successfully and most of the collective will to handle this operation, its own reputation and credibility would have been enhanced. And I have also said if the action is to take place without the support of the Council, its legitimacy will be questioned and the support for it will be diminished.
March 18, 2003
Dear Mr. Speaker: (Dear Mr. President:)
Consistent with section 3(b) of the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002 (Public Law 107-243), and based on information available to me, including that in the enclosed document, I determine that:
(1) reliance by the United States on further diplomatic and other peaceful means alone will neither (A) adequately protect the national security of the United States against the continuing threat posed by Iraq nor (B) likely lead to enforcement of all relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions regarding Iraq; and
(2) acting pursuant to the Constitution and Public Law 107-243 is consistent with the United States and other countries continuing to take the necessary actions against international terrorists and terrorist organizations, including those nations, organizations, or persons who planned, authorized, committed, or aided the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001.
Sincerely,
GEORGE W. BUSH
AS DELIVERED
THE SECRETARY
-GENERAL---
STATEMENT TO THE SECURITY COUNCIL-
---New York, 19 March 2003
19 March
Thank you, Mr. President.
Excellencies,
Needless to say, I fully share the regrets expressed by many members of the Council at the fact that it has not been possible to reach a common position. Whatever our differing views on this complex issue, we must all feel that this is a sad day for the United Nations and the international community.
I know that millions of people around the world share this sense of disappointment, and are deeply alarmed by the prospect of imminent war.
Let me here pay tribute to the United Nations staff – both international and Iraqi – who have worked so hard in Iraq up to the last possible moment. That includes the inspectors, whose work has now sadly been suspended. I would like to pay special tribute to Dr. [Hans] Blix, Dr. [Mohamed] El Baradei and [Ramiro] Lopes da Silva, the Humanitarian Coordinator, under whose leadership the staff worked in Iraq.
Mr. President, it is the plight of the Iraqi people which is now my most immediate concern, and I have been glad to hear that sentiment shared by all the speakers in this debate.
In the past twenty years, Iraqis have been through two major wars, internal uprisings and conflict, and more than a decade of debilitating sanctions.
The country's vital infrastructure has been devastated, so that it no longer meets the most basic needs for clean water, health or education.
Already, Iraq's most vulnerable citizens – the elderly, women and children, and the disabled – are denied basic health care for lack of medicine and medical equipment.
Already, nearly one million Iraqi children suffer from chronic malnutrition.
Already, Iraqis are heavily dependent on the food ration which is handed out each month to every family in the country. For more than sixty per cent of the population, this ration is their main source of income. Yet many families have to sell part of it to buy clothes or other essentials for their children.
All that is true as we speak. And in the short term, the conflict that is now clearly about to start can only make things worse – perhaps much worse.
Mr. President,
I am sure all members of this Council will agree that we must do everything we can to mitigate this imminent disaster, which could easily lead to epidemics and starvation.
Under international law, the responsibility for protecting civilians in conflict falls on the belligerents; in any area under military occupation, responsibility for the welfare of the population falls on the occupying power.
Without in any way assuming or diminishing that ultimate responsibility, we in the United Nations will do whatever we can to help.
As you know, the humanitarian agencies of the United Nations have for some time been engaged in preparing for this contingency, even while we hoped it could still be averted.
We have done our best to assess the possible effects of war, in terms of population displacement and human need, and to position our personnel and equipment accordingly. For these preparations we requested 123.5 million dollars from donors a month ago, but only 45 million have been pledged, and 34 million dollars received, to date. I'm afraid we shall very soon be coming back with an appeal for much larger sums, to finance actual relief operations – and I earnestly hope that Member States will respond with generosity and speed.
We have also examined the situation caused by the suspension of the activities of the Oil-for-Food Programme in Iraq, and ways that the Programme could be adjusted temporarily, to enable us to continue providing humanitarian assistance to the people of Iraq during and after hostilities.
Such adjustments would require decisions by this Council. I will therefore submit my specific proposals for the Council's consideration - as suggested in your note, Mr. President.
In conclusion, Mr. President, let me express the hope that the effort to relieve the sufferings of the Iraqi people, and to rehabilitate their society after so much destruction, may yet prove to be the task around which the unity of this Council can be rebuilt.
Thank you very much.
