The Report
of the Iraq Inquiry
“… the
people who will be most delighted to see the end of Saddam are the
people
who are his
first and primary victims – his own people. In those circumstances,
I do
not believe
that it will recruit people to the cause of terrorism … what will
recruit
people to
the cause of terrorism is a belief among these fanatics that the
will of the
international
community is weak, that it does not have a determination to
confront
these
issues, and that, when faced with the challenge, we will fail to
meet it.”
24.
In response to
a question from Mr James Paice (Conservative) about the need
to
explain to
the British public “the conjunction between the Iraqi situation and
international
terrorism”,
Mr Blair stated that “we have constantly tried to explain to
people” that the
two issues
of WMD and terrorism were “not separate”. Both represented “the
threats
of the
fanatical over the rational … [T]hreats to the civilised world from
acts of barbarity.”
The fact
was that the two issues were:
“…
intimately linked … without a doubt, if we do not deal with both
these issues at
some point
… [they] will come together. It is simply not possible to have a
situation
in which
states are developing and trading in this stuff, with their
scientists being
hired by
the top bidder, and in which terrorist groups are well-financed and
able to
recruit …
It is not possible to have those two threats operating and for them
not to
come
together at a certain point, and the consequences would then be
devastating.”
25.
Mr Blair
stated that he was taking a risk politically on Iraq because he did
not “want
to be the
Prime Minister to whom people point the finger in history and say,
‘You knew
perfectly
well that these two threats were there, and you didn’t do anything
about it.
In the
end, you took the easy way out …’ We know that those threats are
there and
we have
got to deal with them.”
26.
Asked by
Mr Ian Lucas (Labour) to confirm that he would support
military action
against
Iraq only if the UN weapons inspectors certified that there was a
continuing
material
breach of UN resolution 1441, Mr Blair responded: “That is
exactly the position
I have
outlined. If the inspectors continue to certify that Iraq is not
co-operating fully, that
is a
material breach. It is precisely so that the inspectors can make
those findings a fact
that we put
them there.”
27.
Mr Blair’s
statement was repeated in the House of Lords by Lord Williams
of
Mostyn, the
Lord Privy Seal.2
28.
Lord
Strathclyde (Conservative) supported the need for action, stating
that a second
resolution
was highly desirable but it “should not be used as an excuse for
delay”.
He also
asked for further information about the specific danger Saddam
Hussein posed
to the UK.
He concluded that Saddam Hussein had been given “a second chance
once
2
House of
Lords, Official
Report, 3
February 2003, columns 20-33.
184