The Legality of Coercive Arms Control

Abstract

On June 7, 1981 the Israeli air force bombed the Iraqi nuclear complex at Tuwaitha. The attack was strongly condemned by the U.N. Security Council as a "clear violation of the Charter of the United Nations and the norms of international conduct." Nearly ten years after voting to condemn the Israeli raid, the United States struck at the same target. Unlike the Israeli raid, the American action was not denounced by a Security Council resolution.