And to many it is a powerful casus belli to which a head of government has now lent credence.

ECONOMIST: Mahathir Mohamad

But George Bush and Tony Blair will no doubt be hoping that the casus for their victorious belli turns up soon.

ECONOMIST: The conflict is over. Now for the casus belli

The closest thing to a casus belli in Britain's drug war is a schedule of banned substances drawn up in the early 1970s.

ECONOMIST: Illicit drugs

But there is a danger that the failure to find an Arab-Kurdish solution for the disputed land will give the insurgents a perpetual casus belli.

ECONOMIST: Security in Iraq

Hypocritical perhaps, but the moral imperative not to let Mr Milosevic's brutality stand was a more convincing casus belli than Serbia's mere refusal to sign up at Rambouillet.

ECONOMIST: The roots of the Kosovo calamity

In the event Saddam did not acquiesce this "last" time, we are assured, it would provide a casus belli that would enjoy widespread, if not universal, international support.

CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: Center For Security Policy

In staking this false claim, as it did with the Shaba Farms on Mount Dov in the Golan Heights in 2000, Lebanon is setting up a casus belli against Israel.

CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: The Path to the Next Lebanon War