ABSTRACT

This chapter examines the controversial doctrine implicitly advanced by the US that it had the authority to resort to forcible measures to implement the will of the international community in the absence of any authorization having been granted by the UNSC. It is clear that at the end of the Cold War serious violations of human rights were a matter of international concern and their prevention and punishment in international law had gained momentum since the adoption of the UN Charter in 1945. The primary interpretive community in connection with the first part of the justification was the UNSC. The US stated that it was in response to the Iraqi armies attack on, and seizure of, Kurdish-controlled areas despite clear warnings from the United States and the international community. The US, after claiming the exhaustion of peaceful remedies, argued that Operation Allied Force was justified because of the humanitarian catastrophe.