The Report
of the Iraq Inquiry
•
“… the
second scenario … the views of a number of people change …
there
may indeed
be a majority … in favour of the new resolution … If that
happens,
France will
vote ‘no’ … when one of the five Permanent Members … votes
‘no’,
and even if
there is a majority in favour … the resolution isn’t adopted.
That’s
what’s
called exercising a veto.”
131.
Asked: “And,
this evening, this is your position in principle?”, President
Chirac
responded:
“My
position is that, regardless of the circumstances, France will vote
‘no’ because
she
considers this evening that there are no grounds for waging war in
order to
achieve the
goal we have set ourselves, ie to disarm Iraq.”
132.
Asked whether
France would use its veto regardless of the position of China
and
Russia,
President Chirac replied that if there was a resolution authorising
war, they
would adopt
the same attitude as France.
133.
President
Chirac stated that it was possible to have a difference of view
with
the US.
Principles and values should not be sacrificed because there was a
crisis.
France had
warned the US that it could not:
“… be a
standard bearer for democracy and dialogue and not use every
possible
method to
avoid a war … [I]f the international community didn’t give its
approval,
a dangerous
precedent would be set if the United States bypassed the
UN.”
134.
President
Chirac added that he had told President Bush that the US had
“already
won”. It
was “highly probable” that “Iraq wouldn’t have provided the more
active
co‑operation
the inspectors demanded”, if the US and the UK had not deployed
such
significant
forces.
135.
President
Chirac made clear that although France disagreed with military
action,
it would
remain an ally of the US. It would not stop US overflights. But he
warned that
the
consequences of war would be unpredictable. Reconstruction would be
required
which could
only be done through the UN. The responsibility of restoring a
viable
situation
in Iraq and the region could not be taken on by one country alone.
France
would have
a part to play.
136.
In response to
a question about whether war would lead to a
resurgence
of
terrorism and clashes between the different communities in France,
President
Chirac replied:
“It’s
certain that, if there’s war, the first victors will probably be
those seeking
confrontation,
the clash of civilisations, cultures and religions. In my opinion,
a war
of this
nature can lead only to increased terrorism.”
424