3.7 |
Development of UK strategy and options, 1 February to 7 March
2003
•
The
possibility of unmanned aerial vehicles with spray tanks for
biological agents
being
“launched from a vessel off the American coast” which “could
reach
hundreds of
miles inland”.
•
Iraq might
pass weapons of mass destruction to terrorists, had
“provided
Al Qaida
with chemical and biological weapons training”, and was
“harbouring
a terrorist
network, headed by a senior Al Qaida terrorist planner”. That
network
ran “a
poison and explosive training center in northeast Iraq”, was
“responsible
for the
murder … of an American diplomat”, and “was caught producing
poisons
in
London”.
154.
President Bush
stated that resolution 1441 had given Saddam Hussein a
final
chance, and
that he was “throwing that chance away”. Having made its demands,
the
Security
Council “must not back down, when those demands are defied and
mocked
by a
dictator”.
155.
Referring to a
second resolution, President Bush stated:
“The United
States would welcome and support a resolution which makes clear
that
the
Security Council stands behind its previous demands. Yet
resolutions mean little
without
resolve. And the United States, along with a growing coalition of
nations,
is resolved
to take whatever action is necessary to defend ourselves and
disarm
the Iraqi
regime.
“… We will
not wait to see what terrorists and terrorist states could do with
chemical,
biological,
radiological or nuclear weapons. Saddam Hussein can now be
expected
to begin
another round of empty concessions, transparently false denials. No
doubt,
he will
play a last-minute game of deception. The game is
over.
“All the
world can rise to this moment … The United Nations can renew its
purpose
and be a
source of stability and security in the world. The Security Council
can affirm
that it is
able and prepared to meet future challenges … And we can give the
Iraqi
people
their chance to live in freedom and choose their own
government.
“… Saddam
Hussein has the motive and the means and the recklessness
and
hatred to
threaten the American people. Saddam Hussein will be
stopped.”
156.
In his
interview on Newsnight
on 6
February 2003, Mr Blair said that the UK
would act
without a second resolution only if the inspectors reported that
they
could not
do their job and a resolution was vetoed unreasonably.
157.
Mr Blair
also stated that the UK would not take military action
without
a majority
in the Security Council.
205