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.If the Security Council fails to act decisively in the event of a furtherIraqi violation, this resolution does not constrain any member state from acting todefend itself against the threat posed by Iraq, or to enforce relevant UN resolutionsand protect world peace and security.18 The US then moved in late 2002 towards aninvasion of Iraq.The British government under Tony Blair had strongly supported the US GlobalWar on Terror and had contributed substantial forces to the suppression of theTaliban.Blair was concerned that the bellicose and unilateralist Bush administrationwould act alone, rely on existing and rather flimsy UN resolutions for its authority,and alienate much of the world as a result.He proved, of course, to be correct.Hepersuaded the US to make one more effort to get another, firmer resolution passed bythe Security Council, in exchange for his promise to commit British troops alongsidethe US, even if this UN effort failed.The US went back to the Security Council inearly 2003 but, despite strong British support, including a rather unpersuasive dossierpurportedly proving Iraq s further development of WMDs, was again rebuffed.USforces, with allied support, including from Britain and Australia, invaded Iraq inMarch 2003.By then, a number of US motives beyond non-compliance with UN motionswere clear.Several members of the administration regretted the US had not oustedSaddam in 1991.The President himself may have been further motivated by theunsuccessful Iraqi attempt to assassinate his father during a visit to Kuwait in 1993.Blair, in particular, seems to have genuinely believed Iraq was developing WMDs thatcould be used against Britain, among other states.There were also several attemptsmade to link the Ba athist regime to Al Qaeda and its terrorist activities.Althoughthese were never established conclusively, the CIA did report that there were several18 Explanation of Vote by Ambassador John D.Negroponte, United States PermanentRepresentative to the United Nations, following the vote on the Iraq Resolution, SecurityCouncil, November 8, 2002 , US Mission to the United Nations, PRESS RELEASE # 187(02) (Revised) November 8, 2002. The Global War on Terror 117Al Qaeda training camps in Iraq in 2002 run by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi19 and Iraqdid sponsor terrorists by providing financial assistance to the families of Palestiniansuicide bombers.The neo-conservatives led by Paul Wolfowitz, but with muchassistance from Richard Perle and sympathetic American intellectuals, then arguedthat Iraq should and could be democratised and light the way for a new politicalstructure in the Middle East based on Islamic but democratic societies.This viewhad support from the doyen of Middle East scholars, Bernard Lewis, who becameprominent in these discussions in 2002 03.20There were a number of problems with the project to democratise Iraq, andthen the wider Middle East, and these became apparent fairly quickly.First, itwould involve totally dismantling the Ba athist regime that, whatever its majorshortcomings, had been the effective government of the country for four decades.Secondly, the commitment of the Islamic population to the US version of democracy,bearing in mind that Islam allowed for the ongoing legitimacy of a legal code handedto the Prophet, via Archangel Gabriel, from God thirteen centuries previously, wasuncertain.Thirdly, taking power from the Sunni minority and handing it to the Shi itemajority would likely be resisted, and probably violently so.Fourthly, if the Shi itesachieved power, they would be more likely to establish a close relationship with thepowerful neighbouring Shi ite theocracy in Iran, than with the liberal democracies.And, finally, if the electorates of the Middle East chose to democratically electIslamists who were hostile to the US, as they did in Iran and were soon to do in thePalestinian Authority, and try to do in Egypt and Lebanon, the US position mightnot be improved.On 11 October 2002, the US Congress had given Bush the authority to attackIraq if Saddam Hussein did not give up his WMDs which almost all stateswrongly believed he had and abide by previous UN resolutions on human rightsand terrorism
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