O EMPREGO DO DIREITO INTERNACIONAL NOS CONFLITOS ARMADOS NO SÉCULO XXI

A GUERRA DO IRAQUE E O DIREITO INTERNACIONAL

Abstract

This article aims to reflect on whether or not compliance with the norms of international law by the
United States, leader of the coalition responsible for "Operation Iraqi Freedom", in 2003, paying
attention to the arguments presented for the legal apparatus necessary to initiate it. military action.
The hypothesis was raised that the invasion of Iraq was illegal. Through a bibliographic research the
inherent aspects of this conflict: raise inserted in the context of the strong presence of terrorist actions
and the danger regarding the use of weapons of mass destruction. Two argues were used to justify
military intervention: an expanded concept of self-defense and an application of UN Security Council
resolutions, involving the concepts of material violation, automaticity and implicit authorization in
the present case. The fragile legal basis on which the operation was perceived, and it should be
considered an illegal action, which occurred out of what the UN Charter prescribes - the cause of the
great global controversy at the time generated around this conflict.