3.8 |
Development of UK strategy and options, 8 to 20 March
2003
credible
prospect for disarming Iraq peacefully” with a “realistic
timetable”. Inspections
were
“producing tangible results”.
991.
Mr de
Villepin stated that a choice was being made “between two visions
of the
world”;
between “those who choose to use force and think that they can
resolve the
world’s
complexity through swift preventive action”; and those who choose
“resolute
action and
a long-term approach”. He warned:
“… in
today’s world, to ensure our security, we must take into account
the manifold
crises and
many dimensions, including the cultural and religious ones.
Nothing
enduring in
international relations can be built without dialogue and respect
for the
other,
without strictly abiding by principles, especially for democracies
that must set
the
example. To ignore that is to run the risk of misunderstanding,
radicalisation and
spiralling
violence. That is especially true in the Middle East, an area of
fractures
and ancient
conflicts, where stability must be a major objective for
us.”
992.
Mr de
Villepin added:
“To those
who think that the scourge of terrorism will be eradicated through
what
is done in
Iraq, we say that they run the risk of failing … An outbreak of
force in
such an
unstable area can only exacerbate the tensions and fractures on
which
terrorists feed.”
993.
Subsequently,
Mr de Villepin stated:
“…
terrorism is fuelled by organised crime networks; it cleaves to the
contours of
lawless
areas; it thrives on regional crises; it garners support from the
divisions
in the
world; and it uses all available resources, from the most
rudimentary …
to whatever
weapons of mass destruction it can manage to acquire.”
994.
Mr de
Villepin called for the international community to “intensify” the
fight against
terrorism;
for a “new impetus” in the fight against proliferation of weapons
of mass
destruction;
and to “recover the initiative in regional conflicts” and in
particular the
Israeli‑Palestinian
conflict.
995.
In Iraq, the
international community should “remain mobilised” to “dress
the
wounds of
war” and to “build peace”. No State could “claim the necessary
legitimacy”
for the
latter; the “legal and moral authority” could “stem only from the
United Nations”,
which
should also “establish a framework for the country’s economic
reconstruction”.
Action
should be guided by “respect for the unity and territorial
integrity of Iraq, and the
preservation
of its sovereignty”.
996.
Mr de
Villepin concluded:
“In a world
where the threats are asymmetrical, where the weak defy the strong,
the
power of
conviction, the capacity to persuade and the ability to change
hearts counts
as much as
the number of military divisions …
577