An independent Dutch government commission reported yesterday that the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq lacked legitimate justification per international law. The commission had been set up in response to domestic Dutch political pressure to further investigate the series of events that led to the government’s support of the US invasion. Regarding the legality of the invasion, the report argued that the construction of UN resolution 1441 “cannot reasonably be interpreted as authorizing individual member states to use military force to compel Iraq to comply with the Security Council’s resolutions.” Although the Dutch government lent political support to the war in 2003, it only sent 1,100 troops to Iraq after the actual invasion, as part of the UN-led stabilization and peacekeeping force. Those troops were ultimately withdrawn from the country in 2005.
Read more at Dawn.com.
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