Resumen de Canada and the 2003 Invasion of Iraq: Prime Minister Chrétien's gloss on the UN Charter Principles on the Use of Force

Edward McWhinney

• Prime Minister Jean Chrétien announced to Parliament on 17 March 2003, three days before the launching of the US-Bristish joint invasion of Iraq, that Canada would not take part in any armed intervention without a prior UN Security Council resolution authorizing such action in legal terms. The Chrétien declaration effectively reaffirmed Canadian classical historical positions as to the primacy of the United Nations in any decisions on the application of armed force conformably to Chapter VII of the "Charter".