The search for legitimacy in the US occupation of Iraq (2003-2004)
The consolidation of a reconstruction project through legal tools and moral arguments.
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.22456/2178-8839.130056Keywords:
Iraq, United States of America, Intervention, LegitimacyAbstract
In March 2003, the USA began its intervention in Iraq, an event that mobilized trillions of dollars for the reconstruction of the Arab country within a transformist and active foreign policy perspective. However, despite the coercive nature of the US interventionist action, it is clear that the organizers of the intervention sought throughout the process to justify the legitimacy of such action. This article aims to critically analyze the consolidation of Iraq's reconstruction through legal tools and moral arguments. In this research, we analyze the US internal legal process that approved the invasion, as well as the United Nations Resolutions that involved the discussion about invading or not invading Iraq, and finally the legal documents and institutional acts promoted by the Coalition of Provisional Authority, a body administration of the reconstruction of Iraq, led by the USA. In practice, this legitimation process took place at three levels: domestically, through the US Congress and Senate; internationally, by the subsequent approval of the UN to create an international administrative body for political transition and reconstruction; and in Iraq – already as an occupying power – with the reformulation of Iraq's legal and institutional apparatus for carrying out the country's reconstruction project.
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Accepted 2023-04-15
Published 2023-05-31
