Although separated by almost 25 years, the 1979 Soviet Union invasion of Afghanistan and the 2003 US invasion of Iraq both contravened International Law of War and Armed Conflict (ILWAC) rules and principles. Both wars were illegitimate according to the customary international law principles and UN Charter provisions of Security Council authorization, self defence and humanitarian intervention. Both wars signify ILWAC's relative meakness in comparison to the economic and political aspirations of the world's most powerful nations, who are able to ignore ILWAC provisions for their desired goals.