Reply #71: It Is Binding International Law, Sir [View All]

[The Magistrate]

It would be impossible, for instance, for Libya to bring complaint it was an object of aggression, and in theory, at any rate, it is illegal for its armed forces to resist the actions taken under U.N. auspices. There can be no question, under international law, that this use of force against Libya is legal.

The United States is not required to put its armed forces at the disposal of the Security Council, though having voted for military action against Libya, and being pretty much the sole possessor of certain military equipments that make such action far more likely of success, it is certainly under some moral obligation.

An employment of military force short of full engagement of war, in co-operation with a Security Council resolution, is not the sort of 'unilateral' Executive action envisioned in the quote cited, and is within Constitutional bounds of Executive authority.