3.6 |
Development of UK strategy and options, November 2002 to January
2003
303.
Mr Blair
continued to express scepticism about whether Saddam
Hussein
would
comply with resolution 1441; and to emphasise that the UK would
if
necessary
disarm him by force.
304.
During Prime
Minister’s Questions (PMQs) on 18 December Mr Iain
Duncan
Smith,
Leader of the Opposition, asked Mr Blair when the Government
would make a
formal
response to the Iraqi declaration and whether he agreed that
Secretary Powell’s
scepticism
was well founded.103
Mr Blair
replied that the Government would respond
“shortly
after the Christmas break”; “most people” were “pretty sceptical”,
but it was
important
to study the Iraqi declaration in detail and make a considered
response.
305.
In response to
a question from Mr Charles Kennedy, Leader of the
Liberal
Democrats,
about military deployments, and a reported comment by Mr Hoon
that the
Security
Council would not be the final judge of whether military action was
necessary,
Mr Blair
stated:
“…
resolution 1441 assumes that there will be a further discussion in
the UN
Security
Council … [I]t has always been our desire to act with the full
authority of
the …
Council. We have always made it clear, however, that, if there were
a breach
and if, for
any reason, the Security Council were blocked in any way, we do
not
believe it
right that that breach should go unpunished … [I]t is important to
make
sure that
we do our level best to work with the UN in any way that we can,
but the
bottom line
– as I have set out from the very beginning – must be that the
United
Nations
route must be the way of dealing with the issue, not the way of
avoiding
dealing
with it … I believe that the UN will support action in
circumstances where
there has
been a breach.”104
306.
Mr Kennedy
also asked if the Government would back the US if it decided to
take
any
“pre‑emptive unilateral action” before the UN inspectorate had
completed its task
and
submitted its conclusions and recommendations to the Security
Council. Mr Blair
replied
that the US was “bound by the UN resolution, just as we are”, and
reiterated
the points
he had made to the Financial
Times on 10
December about the nature of the
“deal” in
resolution 1441.
307.
Subsequently,
in response to a question from Mr Andrew Selous
(Conservative)
asking for
a “clearer explanation” of whether the purpose of a “possible war”
in Iraq
was “to
protect Iraq’s citizens and neighbours from Saddam, to enhance UN
authority,
or to
protect Britain from a future missile attack or Iraqi‑sponsored
terrorism, Mr Blair
responded
that those factors were not “mutually inconsistent”:
“The
reasons for being prepared to take action … are, first, that Saddam
has
weapons of
mass destruction that threaten his region … if a conflict took
place
103
House of
Commons, Official
Report, 18
December 2002, columns 835‑837.
104
House of
Commons, Official
Report, 18
December 2002, columns 841‑842.
55