http://www.ejiltalk.org/legal-advisors-before-the-iraq-inquiry-part-2/ Blog of the European Journal of International Law Tue, 27 Jul 2010 20:07:35 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 http://www.ejiltalk.org/legal-advisors-before-the-iraq-inquiry-part-2/comment-page-1/#comment-1099 Jonathan Fri, 05 Feb 2010 08:17:39 +0000 http://www.ejiltalk.org/?p=1880#comment-1099 An interesting read, and while I am in general agreement, I am minded to respond to the last paragraph. In my view, that was a little harsh on Goldsmith. There is reasonable force in the point he makes, which is essentially a criticism of the UN collective security system and its institutions (i.e. the Security Council). The concentration of power in the P-5, as well as the way the Security Council actually meets, hinders it from acting the way it is supposed to. The existence of the Security Council veto also raises a fundamental problem: what happens if the Security Council is paralyzed from acting? Is there ever a situation dire enough to justify a State, perhaps on moral grounds, to act in its stead? I do agree with Goldsmith that the whole Iraq episode does, if only tangentially, raise these issues. It would be unfair to crucify him for those throwaway remarks. An interesting read, and while I am in general agreement, I am minded to respond to the last paragraph. In my view, that was a little harsh on Goldsmith. There is reasonable force in the point he makes, which is essentially a criticism of the UN collective security system and its institutions (i.e. the Security Council). The concentration of power in the P-5, as well as the way the Security Council actually meets, hinders it from acting the way it is supposed to. The existence of the Security Council veto also raises a fundamental problem: what happens if the Security Council is paralyzed from acting? Is there ever a situation dire enough to justify a State, perhaps on moral grounds, to act in its stead? I do agree with Goldsmith that the whole Iraq episode does, if only tangentially, raise these issues. It would be unfair to crucify him for those throwaway remarks.

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