Legitimacy of the US actions in the Gulf War
?@Were the actions taken by the UN legitimate? Legitimacy is defined by Franck as a property of a rule or rule making institution which itself exerts a pull toward compliance on those addressed normatively because those addressed believe that the rule or institution has come into being and operates in accordance with generally accepted principles of right process. The UN Security is supposed to be, in practice, the final arbitrator of its final authority for the new world order that is claimed for tomorrow. However, in actuality there is a lack of legitimacy, and the author shows this by diving into four aspects; the indeterminacy of the legal authority of Res 678, the great power pressure diplomacy, its unrestricted character, and in the Council?fs hasty retreat from nonviolent sanctioning alternatives permissible under it. These are all interconnected in some way, and they all show that the UN S.C did not act in accordance to the core principles and purposes of the UN in settling international disputes. The indeterminate legal authority for Resolution 678 In resolution 660, the UN explicitly stated that they were acting under Art. 39 and 40 of the charter. However, in res 678 that precision was not used, at least in the
Article 39(making recommendations)-these recommendations were understood to refer to Chapter VI provisions calling for the pacific settlement of international disputes, to be pursued either alone or in tandem with economic and/ or military decisions taken in accordance with Artcles 41 and 42. In any event, the SC in Res 678 made and authorization, not a recommendation. Also, at the request of the US and to assure exclusive US command and control over the Persian Gulf crisis, it turned down a Soviet proposal to activate the Military Staff Committee provided for in the Articles 45-47. The notes that at least in the Korean situation, actions were taken under the UN flag and moreover when the US had in fact (in the Gulf Crisis), three weeks earlier has unilaterally begun to amass an offensive force of an half-million military personnel. Article 42(the authorization of the SC to take military actions)-was not the legal basis for the use of military force. Why? Because of the articles dependant relationship with article 43, pursuant to which the UN membership consents to provide the SC on its call and in accordance with special agreements with armed forces, assistance and facilities to effectuate article 42. Since this makes it so whatever military action the SC might take to ensure int?fl peace and security have to be premised otherwise, this article is considered a dead letter. use of force. This ambiguity is dangerous. Therfore the author talks about several articles that this enforcement could have been under. The Rejection of Economic Sanctions and Other Non-Violent Operations Many have commented critically on Bush?fs decision to forgo primary reliance on the Article 41 economic sanctions imposed by res 661. The author also criticizes Bush?fs move on this matter. He states that though while no one could claim with certainty or even optimism that the sanctions alone would ultimately have succeeded in to the fullest extent desired, the military alternative was well understood to risk death and destruction on a wide spread basis, staggering economic costs and dislocations, large scale environmental harm and the possible enmity of the Arab and Islamic worlds for years. It is thus exceedingly troublesome that he did not step back from the use of military action. However what is even more troublesome is that Bus
Some common words found in the essay are:
UN SC, SC UN, Non-Violent Operations, Hence Article, Conclusion Bush, UN Security, Conclusion-Therefore Res, France US-which, , Fr Russianc, res 678, article 51, economic sanctions, legal authority, pressure diplomacy, indeterminate legal authority, resolution 678, international disputes, actions un, gulf crisis, pressure diplomacy unrestricted, military actions,
Approximate Word count = 1578
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)
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