The Joint Resolution to Authorize the Use of United States Armed Forces Against Iraq was a resolution passed in late 2002 by the United States Congress authorizing what was soon to become the 2003 invasion of Iraq under the War Powers Resolution. The authorization was sought by US President George W. Bush, and passed by a greater than 2-1 margin with the support of both major parties.
The act cited several factors to justify a war:
- Iraq's noncompliance with the conditions of the 1991 cease fire
- Iraq's weapons of mass destruction, and programs to develop such weapons, posed a "threat to the national security of the United States and international peace and security in the Persian Gulf region"
- Iraq's "brutal repression of its civilian population"
- Iraq's "capability and willingness to use weapons of mass destruction against other nations and its own people"
- Iraq's hostility towards the United States as demonstrated by the 1993 assassination attempt of George Bush Sr, and firing on coalition aircraft enforcing the no-fly zones following the 1991 Gulf War
- Iraq's connection to terrorist groups, including Al Qaeda
- Fear that Iraq would provide weapons of mass destruction to terrorists for use against the United States
The act was significant in that it did not require the President to obtain UN Security Council authorization. Further, even if Iraq complied with UNSC resolutions, the President was still authorized to attack in order to protect the United States. This was, in effect, approval for Bush to act unilaterally. This was viewed among American conservatives as a major impetus for the UNSC's unanimous adoption of resolution 1441 a few weeks later.