[JURIST] University of Pittsburgh law professor Jules Lobel writes in Wednesday's Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:

Iraq's 1990 invasion of Kuwait violated Article 2(4) of the U.N. Charter, which prohibits one country from attacking another except in self-defense or with Security Council authorization. Our imminent invasion of Iraq will also violate Article 2(4). As U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan put it recently, "If the U.S. and others were to go outside the council and take military action, it would not be in conformity with the charter."

The U.N. Charter was in large part drafted by the United States in 1945. It is a solemn treaty commitment ratified by the U.S. Senate and under our Constitution constitutes a part of our "supreme law." The Charter has played an important role in preserving some semblance of international order in the turbulent post-World War II world. Our striking international isolation as we approach this war can not be attributed to French petulance, Russian reluctance or a hostile world. Rather, it is in large part a reflection of the fact that this war deeply offends a fundamental principle of the charter, which is widely accepted by international public opinion. This war will be an illegal, aggressive war.