The reason the people of Iraq are being bombed by the world's most deadly and sophisticated weapons is that their leaders are said to have defied the United Nations. Yet the UN role and endorsement of the action are, to say the least, vague.
The Iraqi Foreign Minister, Mr Tariq Aziz, yesterday repeated the condemnation by the British MP Mr Tony Benn, in the House of Commons on Thursday, that the bombing was a flagrant breach of the UN Charter.
Washington and London acted on their joint initiative, with the belated support of NATO and some European allies. The UN Secretary-General, Mr Kofi Annan, could not hide his sorrow at the action, describing Wednesday as "a sad day for the United Nations and the world".
Only weeks earlier Mr Annan had been praising the British and Americans as "perfect peacekeepers" after they withdrew from the brink of strikes in November, when the Iraqis made another of their last-minute pledges to co-operate with Unscom, the weapons inspectors.
Mr Scott Ritter, a former inspector particularly disliked by the Iraqis, has claimed that the Unscom chief, Mr Richard Butler, firmed up his report on obstruction to accommodate a US desire to bomb. Mr Butler has robustly denied any such allegation. But it was this report which validated, in Washington's eyes, the decision to strike.
However, there is no actual UN resolution calling for such action. There are numerous resolutions dating from the end of the 1991 Gulf War.
The "Mother of all Resolutions", as it is called, No 687, adopted in April 1991, laid down the terms of the ceasefire. Among its 34 clauses, Iraq was required to destroy its weapons of mass destruction, with the wording that "Iraq shall unconditionally accept the destruction, removal or rendering harmless, under international supervision, of all chemical and biological weapons . . . and all research, development, support and manufacturing facilities."
Subsequent resolutions to do with Iraq's adherence to the terms of 687, including humanitarian arrangements, were Nos 707, 715, 1060, 1115, 1154, 1194 and 1205. As can be seen from the gap in the sequence, there was a hiatus of several years when Iraq seemed to be complying with destruction of its weapons.
However, in August 1995, just as Unscom was about to finish its assignment, Saddam Hussein's son-in-law, Mr Hussein Kamel, defected and provided Western authorities with information that inducted chemical weapons were being made. As Mr Kamel had been minister for military industry he was an impeccable source. The first of numerous scares that the world was on the brink of a deadly new conflict came in November 1997, when Iraq expelled a number of the Unscom inspectors claiming they were spies.
In February 1998 Mr Annan negotiated a "memorandum of understanding" with Iraq which permitted unrestricted access to sites. The Security Council passed Resolution 1154 which formalised this agreement. In September it passed 1194 demanding that Iraq resume co-operation - again withdrawn - with the Unscom inspectors. Then on November 5th, with 1205, it voted unanimously to condemn Iraq for its stance. This was the last resolution as such.
Mr Butler presented his report on the hindrances his staff were encountering to the Security Council on Monday, December 14th. A day earlier the Secretary-General had distanced himself from the US policy of ousting Saddam Hussein on the grounds that the original resolution, 687, and none of the subsequent ones, had spoken of getting rid of Iraq's leadership. Nor had they sanctioned military action.
AFP adds from Paris: Former UN chief Dr Boutros Boutros-Ghali expressed dismay yesterday at the strikes. "My main problem is the situation of the Iraqi people. They are suffering from many years of economic sanctions and now they will suffer from the strikes."
Asked whether the US was right in acting without UN support, he said: "You have hundreds of resolutions concerning the Iraqi problem and you can find interpretations favouring [a decision] on a strike to be taken unilaterally or calling for recommendations from the Security Council."