The Report
of the Iraq Inquiry
186.
Mr Blair
also set out the UK’s commitment, following regime change in
Afghanistan,
to “stick
with” the Afghan people “until the job of reconstruction” was done.
He
highlighted
the need for “a firm commitment to action and a massive
mobilisation of
energy” to
get the Middle East Peace Process moving again, to address
resentment
in the Arab
world that the international community was not pursuing that issue
with the
same vigour
as addressing the threat from Saddam Hussein.
187.
Mr Blair’s
statement concluded:
“Finally,
there are many acts of this drama still to be played out. I have
always said
that
Parliament should be kept in touch with all developments, in
particular those
that would
lead us to military action. That remains the case, and to those who
doubt
it I say:
look at Kosovo and Afghanistan. We proceeded with care, with full
debate in
this House,
and when we took military action, we did so as a last resort. We
shall act
in the same
way now, but I hope we can do so secure in the knowledge that
should
Saddam
continue to defy the will of the international community, this
House, as it
has in our
history so many times before, will not shrink from doing what is
necessary
and what is
right.”
188.
Mr Blair’s
statement was followed by questions from the Leaders of both the
main
Opposition
parties and 24 other MPs.
189.
Mr Iain
Duncan Smith, Leader of the Opposition, said the “key question”
was
whether
Saddam Hussein had “the means, the mentality and the motive to pose
a
threat to
Britain’s national security and the wider international order”.
Mr Duncan Smith
concluded
that Saddam Hussein had the means and mentality. He
stated:
“The
evidence produced in the Government’s report shows clearly that
Iraq is still
pursuing
its weapons of mass destruction programme …
“The …
dossier confirms that Iraq is self sufficient in biological weapons
and that the
Iraqi
military is ready to deploy those, and chemical weapons, at some 45
minutes’
notice.”
190.
Addressing
whether Saddam Hussein had the motive to strike against
Britain,
Mr Duncan
Smith stated:
“… I
believe that it is fair to assume that he has …
“The report
shows that Saddam has illegally retained at least 20 Al Hussein
missiles,
with a
range of 650km, capable of carrying the various warheads that he
needs, and
that he is
also developing new ones.”
191.
Mr Duncan
Smith also asked a number of questions, including whether a
new
Security
Council resolution would be needed to take military action. He
concluded it was
“time to
act” and: “The matter is now in Saddam Hussein’s
hands.”
232