Legal Issues in Forming the Coalition

• Author: Alan Cole
• Position: Commander, Royal Navy
• Pages: 141-153

VI

Legal Issues in Forming the Coalition

Alan Cole*

'"Tis our true policy to steer clear ofpermanent alliances, with anyportion of

the foreign world"

George Washington, on leaving office, 1796.

"Personally Ifeel happier now that we have no allies to be polite to and to

pamper. "

King George VI, on hearing Britain stood

alone against Hitler, June 1940.

Unlike George Washington and George VI, those who contemplated mili-

tary action in Afghanistan in 2001 were eager to be part of abroad, capable

and committed coalition. As well as the obvious practical benefits in terms ofaddi-

tional military assets and the crucial staging and basing support, they wanted the

Taliban and al Qaeda to know that the resolve to defeat them stretched across all

continents and many governments. The attacks of September 11, 2001 were so ex-

traordinary in both scale and ferocity that no nation was likely to hesitate in identi-

fying aclear legal basis to come to the assistance of the United States.

In fact the earliest days of the coalition were characterized by general consen-

sus among its members: consensus on the horror of the attacks of 9/1 1, consensus

on the fact that they represented an armed attack for the purposes of Article 51, 1

*Commander, Royal Navy. The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not

represent those of the Royal Navy, the United Kingdom Ministry of Defence or Her Majesty's

Government.