The Report
of the Iraq Inquiry
974.
President Bush
wrote in his memoir that he convened “the entire National
Security
Council” on
the morning of 19 March where he “gave the order to launch
Operation
975.
Although
there had been unanimous support for a rigorous inspections
and
monitoring
regime backed by the threat of military force as the means to
disarm
Iraq when
resolution 1441 was adopted, there was no such consensus in
the
Security
Council in March 2003.
976.
In the
Security Council debate on 19 March, the majority of members
of
the
Security Council, including China, France and Russia, made clear
that they
thought the
goal of disarming Iraq could be achieved by peaceful means
and
emphasised
the primary responsibility of the Security Council for the
maintenance
of
international peace and security.
977.
The Security
Council held an open debate on Iraq on 19 March. The
Foreign
Ministers
of France, Germany, Guinea, Russia and Syria
attended.345
978.
Dr Blix
stated that UNMOVIC’s draft work programme had been presented to
the
Security
Council on 17 March in response to the wishes of its members, but,
“on the
very same
day”, UNMOVIC had been “constrained together with other United
Nations
units
to order the withdrawal of all our inspectors and other
international staff from Iraq”.
979.
Dr Blix
stated that he felt:
“… sadness
that three and a half months of work … have not brought
the
assurances
needed about the absence of weapons of mass destruction or
other
proscribed
items in Iraq, that no more time is available for inspections and
that
armed
action now seems imminent.”
He was
relieved that there had been full Iraqi co-operation on the
withdrawal of UN staff.
980.
Dr Blix
stated that the inspectors had “worked broadly” but it was
“evidently
possible
for the Council to single out a few issues for resolution within a
specific
time”. The
draft programme selected “12 key tasks” where progress “could
have
an impact
on the Council’s assessment of co-operation of Iraq under
resolution 1284
(1999)”.
But, whatever approach was followed, the results would depend on
Iraq’s
active
co-operation. Since his last report to the Security Council [on 7
March], Iraq
had sent
several more letters on unresolved issues. Those efforts by Iraq
“should be
acknowledged”,
but UNMOVIC’s experts had “found, so far, that, in substance,
only
limited new
information has been provided that will help to resolve remaining
questions”.
344
Bush
GW. Decision
Points. Virgin
Books, 2010.
345
UN Security
Council, ‘4721st Meeting Wednesday 19 March 2003’
(S/PV.4721).
574