All fifteen members of the security council voted unanimously for a motion that provided n apparent way of stopping a pre-emptive American invasion, by kicking the issue into the long grass until Blix had had a chance to carry out inspections that would determine it one way or another.

The understanding was that the decision as to what to do about it still rested with the Security Council, without which an invasion would be illegal. Which it was in the opinion of virtually all experts in international law.