The Report
of the Iraq Inquiry
“By going
down the UN route we gave the UN an extraordinary opportunity
and
a heavy
responsibility. The opportunity is to show that we can meet the
menace
to our
world together … The responsibility, however, is indeed to deal
with it.”
456.
Referring to
the failure of the League of Nations, Mr Blair
stated:
“… Saddam
would not be making a single concession without the
knowledge
that forces
were gathering against him. I hope, even now, Iraq can be
disarmed
peacefully,
with or without Saddam. But if we show weakness now, if we allow
the
plea for
more time to become just an excuse for prevarication until the
moment for
action
passes, then it will not only be Saddam who is repeating history.
The menace,
and not
just from Saddam, will grow; the authority of the UN will be lost;
and the
conflict
when it comes will be more bloody. Yes, let the United Nations be
the way
to deal
with Saddam. But let the United Nations mean what it says; and do
what
it means.”
457.
Referring to
the threats posed by the proliferation of WMD and the
threat
from
terrorism and their potential consequences, as well as Iraq’s past
behaviour,
Mr Blair stated:
“That is
why Saddam and Weapons of Mass Destruction are
important.
“Every time
I have asked us to go to war, I have hated it …
“At every
stage, we should seek to avoid war. But if the threat cannot be
removed
peacefully,
please let us not fall for the delusion that it can be safely
ignored. If we
do not
confront these twin menaces of weapons of mass destruction and
terrorism,
they will
not disappear …
“When
people say if you act, you will provoke these people … remember
that
Al Qaida
attacked the US …
“… Everyone
agrees Saddam must be disarmed …
“No-one
seriously believes he is yet co-operating fully. In all honesty,
most people
don’t
really believe he ever will … It’s not really an issue of timing …
It is a moral
purpose,
and I respect that.
“… I abhor
the consequences of war.”
458.
Addressing the
question of why he pressed “the case so insistently”,
Mr Blair
stated that
he had set out:
“… the “geo
political reason – the threat of Weapons of Mass Destruction and
its link
with
terrorism. And I believe it.
“If I am
honest about it there is another reason why I feel so strongly
…
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