[thechat] what if ...

[Erik Mattheis]

Old thread, but had dinner with my dad and he had Article 51 of the UN
Charter on a card in his wallet:

"Nothing in the present Charter shall impair the inherent right of
individual or collective self-defence if an armed attack occurs against
a Member of the United Nations, until the Security Council has taken
measures necessary to maintain inter- national peace and security.
Measures taken by Members in the exercise of this right of self-defence
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."

I read this to mean that if the US were to attack Iraq, anybody who
wishes can retaliate against the US (in "collective self-defense")
until the Security Council decides what to do.

On Monday, February 17, 2003, at 09:37  AM, Ben Dyer wrote:
> Doesn't the Security Council have to vote on stuff like that?
>
> I couldn't imagine even France voting to retaliate against the U.S.
> militarily...
>
> Anyways, I don't think it happens automatically.  The U.N. isn't a
> mutual
> defense pact like NATO is...or, is supposed to be, I guess.
>
> --Ben
>
> At 09:31 AM 2/17/2003, you wrote:
>> US attacks Iraq w/o UN approval.
>> Iraq is a member of the UN.
>> Would other UN countries technically be obligated to retaliate against
>> the US?
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Erik Mattheis
GoZz Digital
<http://goZz.com/>
Flash and ColdFusion Development
Minneapolis, MN
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