To hear the liberal media talk, you’d think the only reason we went into Iraq was because of weapons of mass destruction. No so. One of the several reasons was Iraq’s repeated violations of UN resolutions. In fact, the fuss in 2002/2003 was how many UN resolutions Iraq had violated. I researched the issue, and here’s my original post. (It contained links, but those links have long since rotted.)
I’ve been annoyed by the media reports calling the newest UN Security Council resolution on Iraq a second resolution. Donald Rumsfeld calls it the 18th. I questioned a CNN producer by e-mail, asking why they don’t accurately report the number of resolutions. He challenged me to name and attribute the resolutions. Here are 18 that I have found – making the one currently under debate the 19th:
Resolution 660 – (August 2
, 1990) condemns Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait and calls for unconditional withdrawal.
Resolution 661 – (August 6, 1990) Imposes economic sanctions on Iraq.
Resolution 678 – (September 29, 1990) Demands compliance with resolution 660
Resolution 686 – (March 2, 1991) Demands Iraq’s compliance with 12 previous resolutions condemning it’s invasion of Kuwait (Resolution 660 and 11 others that slightly amend or amplify 660 -it appears the UN doesn’t count them as separate resolutions)
Resolution 687 – (April 3, 1991) Cease-fire and mandate of UNSCOM
Resolution 688 – (April 5, 1991) Condemns Iraqi attacks on Kurds and Shiites
Resolution 699 – (June 17, 1991) Iraq liable for costs associated with UNSCOM
Resolution 707 – (August 15, 1991) Iraq’s compliance, inspection flights, Iraq’s disclosures
Resolution 715 – (October 11, 1991) Approval of ongoing monitoring and verification plan
Resolution 1051 – (March 27, 1996) Approval of export/import monitoring mechanism
Resolution 1060 – (June 12, 1996) Condemnation of Iraq’s refusal to grant inspection access
Resolution 1115 – (June 21, 1997) Condemnation of Iraq’s refusal to grant inspections and interviews
Resolution 1134 – (October 23, 1997) Condemnation of Iraq’s behavior, further sanctions threatened
Resolution 1137 – (November 12, 1997) Condemnation of Iraq’s behavior, imposition of travel ban
Resolution 1154 – (March 2, 1998) Endorsement of the MOU on access to Presidential sites
Resolution 1194 – (September 9, 1998) Condemnation of Iraq’s decision to stop all UNSCOM work
Resolution 1205 – (November 5, 1998) Condemnation of Iraq’s decision to halt monitoring
Resolution 1441 – (November 7, 2002) Demands disarmament and inspections
Today, in 2011, folks are asking if the war was worth the effort. I think one should take these resolutions into account when deciding.