CRANFIELD UNIVERSITY DAREN BOWYER JUST WAR DOCTRINE

The dangers of unilateralism were also highlighted by former UK Foreign Secretary
Robin Cook in explaining his resignation from the Cabinet * in protest at the UK
Government’s decision to join the US in taking military action against Iraq in 2003
without the backing of an explicit UN mandate (the so-called ‘Second Resolution’):
The reality is that Britain is being asked to embark on a war without agreement
in any of the international bodies of which we are a leading partner – not NATO,
not the European Union and, now, not the Security Council.
…Our interests are best protected not by unilateral action but by multilateral
agreements and a world order governed by rules. 117
In particular, Cook pointed to the damage that had been done to the informal coalition
of consensus in tackling the threat of international terrorism, which had coalesced so
quickly after the devastating attacks on the World Trade Centre in New York and on the
Pentagon on 11 Sep 2001. He said: ‘Only a year ago, we and the United States were
part of a coalition against terrorism that was wider and more diverse than I would ever
have imagined possible.’ 118 Lack of clear and widely perceived justification, then, had
shattered the consensus – across a broad geographic and cultural spread – that was
essential in the fight against international terrorism. This theme was followed eighteen
months later as controversy over the war continued unabated and Iraq, liberated from
the Saddam regime, remained in turmoil and an apparent centre of gravity for anti-
Western terrorism. In an interview with The Daily Telegraph Saudi Ambassador to
London, Prince Turki al-Faisal, argued ‘(t)here is no doubt that as a result of the Iraq
war it is easier for al-Qa’eda to sell their point of view to potential recruits. Al-Qa’eda
has become stronger and more active since the Iraq conflict.’ 119 Of course, the
increased al-Qa’eda activity may have occurred regardless of the justification, or
perceived justification, of the conflict. It is the ability of the organisation to ‘sell their
point of view’ that resulted from the widespread perception, most especially among al-
Qa’eda’s natural recruit population of young Arabs, of the war’s lack of justification. In
September 2004 British newspapers reported similar views expressed by the UK
Ambassador to Rome, Sir Ivor Roberts. According to The Guardian, Sir Ivor
‘described President George Bush as “the best recruiting sergeant ever for al-Qaida”’ 120
* He was no longer Foreign Secretary at the time but held the Cabinet-ranked post of Leader of the House
of Commons.
104