The United Nations secretary general, Kofi Annan, it seems to me, owes us an apology and an explanation as to why he did not clearly state that he considered the war against Iraq to be illegal BEFORE it began, when it might have had some influence on the course of events and would at least have clarified the situation for all concerned.

It is a bit late now. The British and US governments will maintain that "at the time" they believed their course of action to be legal.

Some good might come of it, however, if it leads to the UN's constitution being changed to the effect that a war which it does not "explicitly" approve is by definition illegal