In order to fully understand the outcome of these three scenarios in
             relation to the international law and the use of force, we must first
             discuss the law as defined by the UN Charter. The UN Charter governs the
             international law and the use of force and has outlined very clear criteria
             for "the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or
             political independence of any state" (article 2 4). The Charter strives
             to provide a state the ability to maintain its sovereignty and individual
             state integrity while outlining two instances that the use of force may be
             used. The first is individual or self defense' (art. 51), when a member
             state is the victim of aggression. As Guicherd points out, there are
             limitations to this justification. For example, Resolution 2625 states that
             assistance to either party engaged in a civil war is prohibited (20).
            
             The second justification for use of force is when the Security
             Council recognizes the "existence of any threat to the peace, breach of the
             peace, or act of aggression" (art. 39) and determines the use of coercive
             action is appropriate. It is important to note that there are coercive
             measures that can be taken that do not include the use of force, such as
             imposing sanction on a state found in violation.
            
             The three uses of force discussed here all differ from each other in
             conflict origin and political circumstances. In order to compare the
             military actions in Kosovo, Afghanistan and Iraq a discussion of the
             circumstances under which the use of force took place is appropriate. All
             situations are unique and produce a gray area when determining the legality
             of the actions imposed by the United States, NATO and its allies. The
             justification and legality of the use of force in Kosovo, Afghanistan and
             Iraq have been hotly debated with opinions raging from in the case of
             Kosovo, "simple skepticism to vehement condemnation of the legality of ...