ABSTRACT
The people of the world were subjected to a series of misleading arguments to justify the US/UN approach in the period between August 2, the date of the invasion of Kuwait, and the initiation of warfare on January 15. The General Assembly and the secretary general should have been far more active in preventing war, more vigilant in upholding the integrity of the UN. Charter in the face of the failure of the Security Council to act in accord with either its letter or spirit, and more vigorous in avoiding the impression and reality of double standards with respect to UN authority. Article 33 of the UN Charter imposes on states a fundamental obligation to seek a negotiated solution to any international dispute that is war threatening. Recourse to war demonstrated the weakness of UN in relation to its own charter far more than it added to US claim that its policies were a justifiable solution to the Gulf crisis.
