The U.N. Security Council has authorized the use of"force" or its equivalent on a number ofoccasions. The four instances before 1990 when the Council authorized the use of force are (1) Council Resolution 83 (1950), adopted June 27, 1950, to "furnish suchassistance...necessary to repel the armed attack and to restore...peace and security" at the start of the Korean War;(2) Council Resolution 161A (1961), adoptedFebruary 21, 1961, to "take...all appropriate measures to prevent ...civil war in the Congo, including...the use offorce, if necessary, in the last resort," anauthorization to the U.N. peacekeeping operation in the Congo (ONUC); (3) Council Resolution 169 (1961),adopted November 24, 1961, "to take vigorousaction, including the use of the requisite measure of force, if necessary" to remove foreign military and otherpersonnel not under the U.N. Command, anotherauthorization to ONUC in the Congo; and (4) Council Resolution 221 (1966), adopted April 9, 1966, "calls on the...United Kingdom to prevent by the use offorce if necessary the arrival at Beira of vessels...believed to be carrying oil destined for Rhodesia...." The Councildid not cite the Charter in these fourresolutions. The Iraqi invasion of Kuwait on August 1-2, 1990, set into motion a series of actions byU.N. In 1991 , the U.N. Security Council adopted a series of 12 resolutions that assigned anextensive set of tasks to the United Nations and imposed on Iraq an equally extensive series of obligations. On September 12, 2002, President Bush in his address to the U.N. General Assembly, had focused on Iraq and its failure to comply with various resolutionsadopted by the U.N. Security Council. He urged the Security Council to act in the face of such repeated violations: 
My nation will work with the U.N. Security Council to meet our commonchallenge.
On September 12, 2002, President Bush in his address to the U.N. General Assembly,focused on Iraq and its failureto comply with various resolutions adopted by the U.N. Security Council. He urged the Council to act in the faceof such repeated violations. On November 8,2002, the Council responded, adopting Resolution 1441 (2002) unanimously. This short report provides backgroundinformation on what the U.N. SecurityCouncil is and what it does, including the occasions when it has authorized the use of force or its equivalent. Asthe U.N. organ having primary responsibilityfor the maintenance of peace and security, the 15-member Security Council set the major international response tothe August 1990 Iraqi invasion of Kuwait,authorizing the use of "force" to gain Iraq's withdrawal from Kuwait in compliance with the 11 resolutionspreviously passed in 1990. In 1991, after the war,the Council adopted a series of 12 resolutions that assigned an extensive set of tasks to the United Nations andimposed on Iraq an equally extensive series ofobligations. As hostilities became imminent, U.N. activities inside Iraq were suspended. After March 19, 2003,the Council met in late March to air U.N.member concerns over the hostilities. This report ends with the start of hostilities and will not be updated.