The Report
of the Iraq Inquiry
•
He hoped
the issue could be “resolved peacefully”. “From the outset” he
had
wanted the
issue “resolved through the UN with the international
community
acting
together”: “We have made our choice: disarmament through the
United
Nations,
with force as a last resort.”
•
The message
to Saddam Hussein was “disarm or you face force. There must
be
no more
games, no more deceit, no more prevarication, obstruction or
defiance.”
863.
Mr Blair
also stated that there was no quarrel with the Iraqi people; and
that:
“Whatever
happens, the territorial integrity of Iraq will be
absolute.”
864.
Mr Blair
concluded that he hoped “an Iraq free of WMD” and a “Government
unable
to use them
to oppress its people and its neighbours” was “a symbol of change …
and
hope for
the future”.
865.
President
Bush emphasised that Iraq’s co‑operation would need to
be
“prompt and
unconditional” or it would “face the severest
consequences”.
“Any act
of delay or defiance” would be “a clear signal” that the Iraqi
regime
had “abandoned
the path of voluntary compliance”.
866.
The US had
“agreed to discuss any material breach with the
Security
Council,
but without jeopardising” its “freedom of action to defend our
country”.
867.
The US was
determined not to allow anything in a new resolution
which
would
detract from the authorities to use force it believed it
had.
868.
Reporting
conversations with senior officials in the US Administration
on
7 November,
Mr Brenton wrote that the hawks in Washington saw the
resolution
as a defeat
and warned that they would be “looking for the least breach of its
terms
as a justification
for resuming the countdown to war”.293
They had
also discussed
the issue
of the supervision of the oil sector “post
occupation”.
869.
In remarks to
the press on the adoption of resolution 1441, President Bush
stated
that Saddam
Hussein had been “given clear and fair notice” that:
•
he “must
fully disclose and destroy his weapons of mass
destruction”;
•
he “must
submit to any and all methods to verify his compliance”;
and
•
co‑operation
“must be prompt and unconditional or he will face the
severest
870.
President Bush
added that the Iraqi regime had “treated its own pledge” to
disarm
“with
contempt” since 1991. Iraq was already in material breach of its
obligations and
293
Minute
Brenton to Gooderham, 7 November 2002, ‘Iraq’.
294
The White
House, 8 November 2002, President
Pleased with UN Vote.
354