"All Members shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state, or in any other manner inconsistent with the purposes of the United Nations." -United Nations Charter "Nothing in the present Charter shall impair the inherent right of individual or collective self-defense if an armed attack. occurs against a Member of the United Nations, until the Security Council has taken measures necessary to maintain international peace and security. Measures taken by Members in the exercise of this right of self-defense shall be immediately reported to the Security Council and shall not in any way affect the authority and responsibility of the Security Council under the present Charter to take at any time such action as it deems necessary in order to maintain or restore international peace and security." -United Nations Charter 1990 5x U.S. STATEMENTS C Our objectives remain what they were since the outset. We seek Iraq's immediate and unconditional withdrawal from Kuwait. We seek the restoration of Kuwait's legitimate government. We seek the release of all hostages and the free functioning of all embassies. And we seek the stability and security of this critical region of the world. We are not alone in these goals and objectives. The United Nations, invigorated with a new sense of purpose, is in full agreement. The U.N. Security Council has endorsed 12 resolutions to condemn Iraq's unprovoked invasion and occupation of Kuwait, implement tough economic sanctions to stop all trade in and out of Iraq, and authorize the use of force to compel Saddam to comply. Saddam Hussein has tried every way he knows how to make this a fight between Iraq and the United States, and clearly, he has failed. Forces of 26 other nations are standing shoulder-to-shoulder with our troops in the Gulf. The fact is that it is not the United States against Iraq, it is Iraq against the world, and there's never been a clearer demonstration of a world united against appeasement and aggression. President George Bush November 30, 1990 The entire international community has been affronted by a series of brutal acts: Iraqi forces have invaded and seized a small Arab neighbor. A once prosperous country has been pillaged and looted. armed camp. A once secure country has been terrorized. The nations of the world have not stood idly by. We have taken political, economic, and military measures to quarantine Iraq and to contain its aggression. We have worked out a coordinated international effort involving over 50 states to provide assistance to those nations most in need as a consequence of the economic embargo of Iraq. And, military forces from over 27 nations have been deployed to defend Iraq's neighbors from further aggression and to implement U.N. resolutions. The 12 resolutions passed by the Security Council have established clearly that there is a peaceful way out of this conflict: the complete, immediate, unconditional Iraqi withdrawal from Kuwait, the restoration of Kuwait's legitimate government, and the release of all hostages.... Members of the council, we meet at the hinge of history. We can use the end of the Cold War to get beyond the whole pattern of settling conflicts by force, or we will slip back into ever more savage regional conflicts in which might alone makes right. We can take the high road toward peace and the rule of law, or Saddam Hussein's path of brutal aggression and the law of the jungle. Simply put, it is a choice between right and wrong. I believe we have the courage and the fortitude to choose what's right. Secretary of State James Baker Statement before the U.N. Security Council |