So, we need to defy what everyone knows to be the will of the Security Council... in order to preserve the authority of the Security Council. Thus destroying the authority of the Security Council in order to save it.

It's not the first time the country has tried to use that kind of logic...

Update: Josh Marshall has more about who did, and who didn't, respect the intentions behind UN resolution 1441... it turns out that at the time that resolution was passed, our own UN ambassador said it specified a "two-stage process" , which didn't authorize anyone to take "automatic" action without further Security Council consideration.