After Bush's UN Speech

Bush's speech Tuesday to the UN General Assembly didn't have any surprises for me, good or otherwise. It was pretty much what I expected: We were right on Iraq; you sissy wimp nations were wrong; but if you beg nicely, we'll let you send troops and money to help us out.

As a diplomatic strategy, it strikes me as deeply unserious.

What did surprise me was how strong (in diplomatic terms) the criticism was of the Bush Doctrine of preventive war. All understood that UN Secretary General Kofi Annan was referring to that when he said:

Since this organization was founded, states have generally sought to deal with threats to the peace through containment and deterrence by a system based on collective security and the United Nations Charter.

This may be a moment no less decisive than in 1945 itself, when the United Nations was founded.

French President Jacques Chirac said (emphasis mine):

The United Nations has just weathered one of its most serious trials in its history: respect for the Charter, the use of force, were at the heart of the debate. The war, which was started without the authorization of the Security Council, has shaken the multilateral system.

Having taken stock of this crisis, our organization is now resuming its onward march, for it is primarily within this forum, the crucible of international law, that we must exercise our responsibilities to the world and to future generations.

Americans of both parties will be quick to dismiss Chirac's words especially as some kind of devious Old World cyncism. But both Kofi Annan and Chirac were all but explicitly raising the issue of the legality of the US war on Iraq under international law.

This puts more immediate pressure on Tony Blair than on Bush. The British public, press and Parliament seem to be more aware of issues around international law than those in America. Britain is also a member of the International Criminal Court.

But it seems to me that, in the longer term, that was a much more significant thing than the immediate outcome of the pending Iraq resolution. Like it or not, Americans haven't heard the last of that one.

Tags: bush, iraq war, united nations