3.4 |
Development of UK strategy and options, late July to 14 September
2002
knowledge
in the dictator’s mind that behind the diplomacy is the possibility
of force
being
used.
“… if we do
not deal with the threat from this international outlaw and his
barbaric
regime, it
may not erupt and engulf us this month or next; perhaps not even
this year
or the
next. But it will at some point. And I do not want it on my
conscience that we
knew the
threat, saw it coming and did nothing.”
467.
Mr Blair
concluded this section of his speech by asking people to “listen to
the
case” he
would “be developing over the coming weeks and to reflect on
it”.
468.
In a broader
call for action, including to “restart the Middle East Peace
Process”
and for
renewed efforts on international terrorism, Mr Blair
stated:
“Internationalism
is no longer a utopian cry of the left, it is practical
statesmanship.”
469.
It is clear
from a record of Mr Hoon’s discussions in Washington on 11
September
that
officials in the US Administration were following what
Mr Blair said in public closely:
one senior
official had described the speech to the TUC as
“spectacular”.147
470.
Mr Blair
asked for Parliament to be recalled to debate Iraq and the issue
of
weapons of
mass destruction.
471.
On 11
September, Mr Blair wrote to the Speaker of the House of
Commons, and
to the Lord
Chancellor, asking for Parliament to be recalled in the week
beginning
472.
Mr Blair
wrote that “Parliament must and will be at the heart of the
national debate
on the
issue of Iraq and Weapons of Mass Destruction”. He was seeking
permission “to
recall
Parliament for a one‑day debate on the Adjournment”, led by
Mr Straw, following a
statement
from himself. He added:
“By then,
important discussions at the UN will have taken place. And
the
Government
will be in a position to publish the dossier on what we know
of
the Iraqi regime
and its WMD programme.”
473.
Mr Blair
emphasised that “we are not yet at the stage of making decisions
about
military
commitments with regard to Iraq, and that should we be so in the
future,
Parliament
would obviously be given every opportunity to express its
view”.
147
Telegram
1159 Washington to FCO, 11 September 2002, ‘Iraq: Mr Hoon’s
Visit to Washington,
11 September’.
148
Letter
Blair to Martin, 11 September 2002, [untitled].
173