3.8 |
Development of UK strategy and options, 8 to 20 March
2003
In an
“Address to the Nation” on 20 March, announcing that UK forces were
taking part
in military
action, Mr Blair stated that the world faced a:
“… new
threat: of disorder and chaos born either of brutal states like
Iraq, armed with
weapons of
mass destruction; or of extreme terrorist groups. Both hate our way
of
life, our
freedom, our democracy.
“My fear,
deeply held, based in part on the intelligence that I see is that
these threats
come
together and deliver catastrophe to our country and
world.
“Some say
if we act, we become a target. The truth is all nations are targets
…
“Should
terrorists obtain these weapons now being manufactured and traded
round
the world,
the damage they could inflict to our economies, our security, to
world
peace,
would be beyond our most vivid imagination.
“My
judgement, as Prime Minister, is that this threat is real, growing
and of an entirely
different
nature to any conventional threat to our security that Britain has
faced
before.
“For 12
years, the world has tried to disarm Saddam … UN weapons inspectors
say
vast
amounts of chemical and biological poisons, such as anthrax, VX
nerve agent,
and mustard
gas remain unaccounted for in Iraq.
“So our
choice is clear: back down and leave Saddam hugely strengthened;
or
proceed to
disarm him by force. Retreat might give us a moment of respite but
years
of
repentance at our weakness would I believe follow.
“It is true
that Saddam is not the only threat. But it is true also … that the
best way
to deal
with future threats peacefully, is to deal with present threats
with resolve.
“Removing
Saddam will be a blessing to the Iraqi people …
“Our
commitment to the post-Saddam humanitarian effort will be total. We
shall help
Iraq move
towards democracy …
…
“But these
challenges and others that confront us … require a world of order
and
stability.
Dictators like Saddam, terrorist groups like Al Qaida threaten the
very
existence
of such a world.
“That is
why I have asked our troops to go into action tonight
…”354
354
The
National Archives, 20 March 2003, Prime
Minister’s Address to the Nation.
587