The Report
of the Iraq Inquiry
“… any
sensible person … asking the question, would the region, the world,
and not
least the
ordinary Iraqi people be better off without the regime of Saddam
Hussein,
the only
answer anyone could give … would be, yes.
“… how we
approach this, is a matter for discussion … for considering all
the
options.
But a situation where he continues to be in breach of all the
United Nations
resolutions,
refusing to allow us to assess … whether and how he is
developing
these
weapons of mass destruction. Doing nothing is not an option
…
“But the
President is right to draw attention to the threat of weapons of
mass
destruction.
That threat is real. How we deal with it, that’s a matter we
discuss.
But …
we have to deal with it …”
598.
Asked whether
removal of Saddam Hussein was now the policy of the
British
Government,
Mr Blair replied:
“… it has
always been our policy that Iraq would be a better place
without
Saddam Hussein.
I don’t think anyone can be in any doubt about that for all
the
reasons I
have given. But how we proceed … how we make sure that this threat
that
is posed by
weapons of mass destruction is dealt with, that is a matter that is
open.
And when
the time comes for taking those decisions, we will tell people
about those
decisions …”
599.
Asked whether
regime change was a change in policy, President Bush replied
that
it was
not:
“… the
worst thing that can happen is to allow the man to abrogate his
promise, and
hook up
with a terrorist network. And then all of a sudden you’ve got one
of those
shadowy
terrorist networks that have got an arsenal at their disposal,
which could
create a
situation in which nations down the road get blackmailed. We can’t
let
that
happen, we just can’t … And, obviously, the Prime Minister is
somebody who
understands
this clearly …”
600.
Asked about
the absence of a direct linkage between Al Qaida and
Saddam
Hussein,
President Bush replied:
“… he
wouldn’t accept that. But can’t they see the linkage between
somebody who’s
willing to
murder his own people and the danger of him possessing weapons
of
mass
destruction, which he said he would not develop? I see the linkage
between
someone who
is willing … to use chemical weapons in order to keep himself
in
power, and
at the same time develop a weapon that could be aimed at
Europe,
aimed at
Israel, aimed anywhere, in order to affect foreign policy
…
“I can’t
imagine people not seeing the threat and not holding Saddam
Hussein
accountable
for what he said he would do, and we’re going to do that. History
has
called us
into action. The thing I admire about the Prime Minister is he
doesn’t need
496