The lawyers were willing to say that such an operation would nevertheless be legitimate under international law based on Kosovo-style “factors,” as Ruemmler explained to me in an on the record interview just a few days later, but they knew it would be incredibly controversial. In light of that, Ruemmler urged Obama to at least get Congress on board, to “enhance the legitimacy” of what the United States was about to do. Obviously putting it on stronger legal footing, as a matter of domestic law, does not solve the legal problem, if there is one, about the international law question. So this was more about marketing and prudence. But that was their advice.
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