Differences in views on 2003

Albright's 2008 verdict

Said the invasion was "the greatest disaster in American foreign policy"

Operation Falconer

Australia's military commitment to the initial invasion - larger than in the 1991 conflict

ANZUS violation

The Iraq War violated Australia's international obligations under ANZUS - Article 1 obligates members to settle international disputes "by peaceful means"

Australia's forces in 2003

Navy deployed 3 ships; army sent 500 troops and 3 Chinook helicopters; the SAS captured the vast Al Asad Airbase complex, seizing dozens of military aircraft; the RAAF deployed 14 FA-18 Hornet fighters, 3 Hercules transports and 2 Orion maritime surveillance planes

Opposition to Desert Fox

Most Arab countries, Russia and France all opposed Operation Desert Fox

Franco-Russian veto threat

Presidents Chirac and Putin agreed to veto any resolution allowing the US to invade

Curveball

German and French agents warned the CIA about the lack of credibility of Iraqi defector Rafid Ahmed Alwan (Curveball), but the CIA accepted his information; Maj Harith also claimed he bought 7 Renault vans for active weapons, and Red River MI6 disregarded his counterclaims to Curveball as false

Powell's claims based on Curveball

In his 5 February 2003 UN presentation, Powell claimed Iraq had seven mobile biological agent factories and "between 100 and 500 tonnes of chemical weapons agents" - none of which were found after the invasion

Gordon on 2003

The invasion "erased much of the diplomatic goodwill of the 1990s" - 36 million people protested internationally from January to April 2003

Foreign ministers' opposition

Russian FM: "not one" of the UN resolutions "authorises the violent overthrow" of Saddam; German FM: "there is no basis in the UN Charter for a regime change"; French FM: the US "run[s] the risk of failing their objective"

Spain and Italy

Joined the coalition but withdrew from Iraq because 80% of Spaniards opposed the invasion (El Mundo, January 2003) and 73% of Italians (Survey Working Group, January 2003)

US vs allies' oil incentives

The US had stronger economic incentives - France, Russia and China accounted for 2%, 3% and 7% of global crude oil consumption vs the US's 25%; Iraq had recent contracts with Russia's Lukoil, France's TotalEnergy and the China National Oil Corporation

Blair and BP

Blair had a close friendship with BP CEO John Browne, and at least a dozen BP executives held government posts or sat on official advisory committees

Coalition of the Willing

Most of the 49 nations fought because of obligations to the US or to benefit economically from US relations and access to Iraqi oil, even though large majorities in many countries opposed the war

Japan's participation

Deployed forces even though 78% of the public opposed the invasion (Asahi Shimbun, February 2003), believing that assisting the US would help protect its energy supply, and because it relied on US military protection

Kofi Annan's verdict

September 2004 BBC interview - the Secretary-General explicitly stated the invasion was "not in conformity with the UN charter" and was illegal