"(The [United Nations] resolution) did not say if we were to use force we have to go back for yet another resolution, it simply said that we would have to come back to consult the Security Council... As far as we were concerned, there were more ways than one that Iraq continued to not be in compliance.... I don't have any doubt in my mind that we were justified for what we did."
"Negroponte: War in Iraq Justified," by Rhiannon Meyers, thebattalion online, Mar. 9, 2004
[Editor’s Note: John D. Negroponte confirmed and elaborated his "Pro" position in an Aug. 24, 2009 email to ProCon.org stating:
"My position was and is more nuanced and has not changed. Technically, a second UN resolution was not needed to attack Iraq; but we should nonetheless have given the inspection process decided in UNSC Resolution 1441 more time to work. Any inspection system such as the one established by Res. 1441 needed time to get underway and develop a track record. By attacking Iraq a mere four months after 1441 was passed, insufficient time was allowed to develop the information necessary to mobilize international support for our action, especially from members of the Security Council. By going forward without international consensus we undermined the legitimacy of our action."]
|