3.2 |
Development of UK strategy and options, January to April 2002 –
“axis of evil” to Crawford
“Of course,
the policy is to protect ourselves against weapons of mass
destruction,
but
obviously that cannot be divorced from the regime, because it is
the regime that
is
responsible … regime change in Iraq has been the policy of
successive American
Governments
… precisely because of the fear of weapons of mass
destruction
… [I]t is
for that very reason that the international community has said to
Saddam
Hussein,
‘Let the inspectors back in’. That is what I am saying, but it must
be done
unconditionally.”
650.
In relation to
Mr Blair’s comments about Saddam Hussein’s chemical
weapons
attacks on
the Kurds, Ms Joyce Quin (Labour) asked Mr Blair to confirm that
“the
maintenance
of the breadth of the international coalition against terrorism”
remained
“an important
priority for him and President Bush”. She stated that it
was:
“…
important to ensure that those who have already been victims … will
not suffer
a second
time in any action against Iraq. Indeed we should not repeat the
mistakes
of the
past, in which one evil regime was replaced by another, but try to
create as
far as
possible the conditions for a multi-ethnic, religiously tolerant,
representative
regime in
Iraq, if and when Saddam Hussein’s regime is changed.”
“I strongly
agree … about the international coalition. It is important that we
build
as much
support as possible for any action that we may undertake. She is
entirely
right that,
if the regime in Iraq is to change, it is important that it changes
to one that
is
genuinely broad based. I hope that we have provided some symbol of
our good
intentions
… by what has happened in Afghanistan … I am sure that she, like
me
and many
others … would be one of the first to say that many people in Iraq
would
rejoice at
Saddam Hussein’s departure. I hope that at some stage we shall be
able
to furnish
the House with details of the way in which his regime operates,
because
its
brutality is scarcely believable.
“It is
important to proceed in a measured way. As I said in my speech in
Texas,
I have been
involved in three regime changes … and I can honestly say that
we
should not
regret any of them. Let us proceed with care … we must ensure
that,
if we
ever get a regime change in Iraq, what follows is an improvement on
what
is there
now.”
652.
Mr Elfyn Llwyd
(Plaid Cymru) welcomed Mr Blair’s reference to seeking an
early
United
Nations Security Council resolution but asked whether one would be
“sought
before any
further action is taken against Iraq”.
653.
Mr Blair
replied: “The time for debating any legal basis of action against
Iraq
is when
we take such action.”
507