Official evidence the US acting in violation of international law

The US in its determination for war against Iraq is clear defiance of international law according to Russian and US official statements among others.

According to the UK Guardian, Russia's foreign minister said that a US military attack against Iraq is "illegal." Though the failier of the US to present its resolution against Iraq to the Security Council points clearly to this recognition by the US, others clearly indicate that Security Council resolution 1441 requires the UN Security Council to vote on subsequent actions if Iraq is not compliant, as stated in its text.

But the clearest evidence of this reality, that an attack on Iraq would require a second Security Council resolution, came from the US Secretary Of State, Colin Powell, who was quoted by the New York Times yesterday as having said to the French foreign minister at the time of the passing of resolution 1441 when "France was advocating that a first resolution at the United Nations Security Council, demanding that Iraq promptly disclose its weapons and disarm, must be followed by a second resolution authorizing war if Iraq refused. 'Be sure about one thing,' Mr. Powell told Dominique de Villepin, the French foreign minister. 'Don't vote for the first, unless you are prepared to vote for the second.'" A second resolution that the United States failed to win approval for. In so speaking, the US itself has acknowledged the legality for a second UN Security Council Resolution for any military act against Iraq, and is acting in violation of international law.