The Report
of the Iraq Inquiry
of force
was not a judgement which could be made by individual Member
States
of the
Security Council.
728.
The final
amendments to the draft resolution were seen by FCO
Legal
Advisers
and by Lord Goldsmith and his officials.
729.
Lord
Goldsmith also asked FCO Legal Advisers for information on the
use
and effect
of a veto.
730.
Mr Wood
reminded Lord Goldsmith that the Law Officers had not
excluded
the
possibility of action in the event of a failure to act by the
Council, in
“exceptional
circumstances” where “the international community as a
whole
favoured
action”; but they had reached no firm conclusion on the
point.
731.
Mr Grainger
drew Sir Jeremy’s remarks to Ambassador Negroponte to the
attention
of Ms
Elizabeth Wilmshurst, FCO Deputy Legal Adviser.248
732.
Mr Grainger
wrote to Mr Chaplin on 31 October, stating that:
“The effect
of this resolution will be that it does not authorise the use of
force, either
now or in
the event of further Iraqi non‑compliance, and that it envisages
further
Council
action if force is to be authorised (as recognised in OP12).
Equally, the
Council
failing to take its responsibilities (i.e. not authorising the use
of force when
we believe
that politically it ought to do so) would not provide a legal basis
for the
733.
Echoing Lord
Goldsmith’s advice to Mr Straw on 18 October,
Mr Grainger
cautioned
that “we must be careful not to give the US (or … others in
Whitehall) a false
impression
of our understanding of the legal position”.
734.
Mr Grainger
sent copies of his minute to Mr Pattison and others within the
FCO,
but not to
the UK Mission in New York.
A global
survey of chemical and biological weapons, produced at the request
of the
MOD, was
issued by the JIC on 28 October.250
It provided
a general assessment of the
practicalities
involved in producing and using chemical and biological agents and
an
assessment
of the capabilities of several countries. Its judgements in
relation to Iraq are
addressed
in Section 4.3.
248
Email
Grainger to Wilmshurst, 25 October 2002, ‘Iraq: Discussions on 24
October’.
249
Minute
Grainger to Chaplin, 31 October 2002, ‘Iraq: UKMIS NY TELNO
2078’.
250
CIG
Assessment, 28 October 2002, ‘Global Chemical and Biological
Weapons Survey’.
328