"the invaded nation can and should fight back to defend themselves on their own soil, and call a halt to the fighting when they push the aggressors back out of their territory."

Far as I know, this is essentially the law that governs fighting between individuals in most, maybe all, of the states in the US. Pre-emptive attacks are illegal, and punishing the attacker after he has stopped fighting is illegal. There are differences in the details, but that's generally it.

It seems to me that there should be some authority greater than the two combatants thet they could appeal to; in other words I could approve of pre-emptive attacks if there were a world court that had authority to decide the justness of the matter and the ability to enforce their decision.

"...supporters of the unilateral US invasion of Iraq maintain that their action could have been avoided had Sadaam responded to "warnings" by stepping down voluntarily..."

I believe GWB said just before the war that if Saddam stepped down it would'nt make any difference, the US would invade anyway.

clint