To the letter of the law, you're right. But I somehow think, if some country has a fleet of ships off are coast line with landing craft and soldiers massing in boats, I think no one could blame us for firing the first shot.At least I know what international law allows a country to legally attack another.
what's all that talk about legality?
Was that US attack on Iraq legal? Or Afghanistan? Was it in accordance with international law?
I am sorry to say but that international law is a joke. No one pays attention to it, and when it's broken nothing gets done about it.
also, what you "know" about international law does not seem to hold much water.
Preemptive war - Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaArticle 2, Section 4 of the U.N. Charter is generally considered to be 'jus cogens' (literally: "compelling law", in practice: "higher international law"), and prohibits all U.N. members from exercising "the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state". Some have argued that Article 51 of the UN Charter permits self defense, however, article 51 also stipulates that self defense by a member state is justified only if, "an armed attack occurs," against it. From this it is reasonable to assume that if no armed attack has yet occurred that no automatic justification for preemptive 'self-defense' has yet been made 'legal' under the UN Charter.
As it turns out under international law there is no justification for preemptive war even when the threat is imminent.
Also there are treaties and alliances. Does anybody with a clue think that Israel would exist right now if the rest of the world did not know that the USA and the U.K. and possibly a few others would come to its immediate defense if seriously attacked?
How does a little country survive amidst enemies unless it has big, strong, friends?
Why do no European countries have significant armies anymore? They don't need them because they know that N.A.T.O. will assemble and utilize a sizable army to defend them against anyone who attacks them. And they know the U.S.A., the one remaining super power, will provide a huge chunk of that army.