International Community in Afghanistan continues...

Operation Enduring Freedom is regarded as a multinational operation in the exercise of self-defence under article 51 of the United Nations Charter although questions regarding the valid use of the article often arise. Article 51 of the UN Charter says:

Nothing in the present Charter shall impair the inherent right of individual or collective self-defence if an armed attack occurs against a Member of the United Nations, until the Security Council has taken measures necessary to maintain international peace and security. Measures taken by Members in the exercise of this right of self-defence shall be immediately reported to the Security Council and shall in not in any way affect the authority and responsibility of the Security Council under the present Charter to take at any time such action as it deems necessary in order to maintain or restore international peace and security.

The US led coalition forces involved in Operation Enduring Freedom, which commenced on 7 October 2001, relied upon article 51 as the basis of the intervention. Different questions can be raised on whether the terrorist attacks of 9/11 fall within the meaning of an “armed attack” in the first sentence of the article. In the case of Operation Enduring Freedom due notifications were made to the UN Security Council.

In a letter addressed to the President of the Security Council on the same day as the commencement of the intervention in Afghanistan, the US Ambassador to the United Nations, John Negroponte, wrote: … my government has obtained clear and compelling information that the Al-Qaeda organization, which is supported by the Taleban regime in Afghanistan, had a central role in the attacks…. From the territory of Afghanistan, the Al-Qaeda organization continues to train and support agents of terror who attack innocent people throughout the world and target US nationals and interests in the US and abroad. In response to these attacks, and in accordance with the inherent right of individual and collective self-defence, US armed forces have initiated actions designed to prevent and deter further attacks on the US.

To br continued...