ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on two distinct periods, each of which are critical to the evaluation of the legality of intervention in Iraq under Operation Iraqi Freedom. The first is the lead-up to Operation Desert Storm in 1991, the aim of which was to repel Iraqi forces from Kuwait after their invasion of that neighbouring territory. The second period is that between the expulsion of Iraqi forces from Kuwait in 1991 and up to Operation Desert Fox in 1998, involving consideration of action, and difficulties faced, by the United Nations (UN) Security Council and UN weapons inspectors. Within the jurisdiction of the UN Weapons of Mass Destruction Branch, "weapons of mass destruction" are defined as nuclear, chemical and biological weapons, as well as ballistic missiles. The UN established the UN Iraq-Kuwait Demarcation Commission to undertake the technical task of determining the precise coordinates of the boundary that had been agreed upon under the 1963 Treaty of Friendly Relations.
