The Report
of the Iraq Inquiry
812.
In the light
of the information he had set out, Mr Blair asked whether the
world
would be
wise to trust to the “good faith of the current Iraqi regime”.
Mr Blair added:
“Our case
is simply this: not that we take military action come what may,
but
that the
case for ensuring Iraqi disarmament, as the UN itself has
stipulated,
is overwhelming.
I defy anyone, on the basis of this evidence, to say that
that
is an unreasonable
demand for the international community to make when,
after
all, it
is only the same demand that we have made for 11 years and that
Saddam
has rejected.”
813.
Mr Blair
posed, and addressed, three questions: ‘Why Saddam?’; ‘Why
now?’;
and ‘Why
should Britain care?’.
814.
On the
question ‘Why Saddam?’, Mr Blair said two things about Saddam
stood
out: “He
had used these weapons in Iraq” and thousands had died, and he had
used
them during
the war with Iran “in which one million people died”; and the
regime had
“no moderate
elements to appeal to”.
815.
On the
question ‘Why now?’, Mr Blair stated:
“I agree
that I cannot say that this month or next, even this year or next,
Saddam
will use
his weapons. But I can say that if the international community,
having made
the call
for his disarmament, now, at this moment, at the point of decision,
shrugs
its
shoulders and walks away, he will draw the conclusion dictators
faced with a
weakening
will always draw: that the international community will talk but
not act,
will use
diplomacy but not force. We know, again from our history, that
diplomacy
not backed
by the threat of force has never worked with dictators and never
will.
“If we take
this course and if we refuse to implement the will of the
international
community,
Saddam will carry on, his efforts will intensify, his confidence
will grow
and, at
some point in the future not too distant, the threat will turn into
reality.
The threat
therefore is not imagined. The history of Saddam and weapons of
mass
destruction
is not American or British propaganda. The history and the present
threat
are
real.”
816.
Mr Blair
said that Britain should care:
“‘Because
there is no way this man, in this region … could begin a conflict
using
such
weapons and the consequences not engulf the whole world, including
this
country.’
That … is the reason the UN passed its resolutions. That is why it
is right
that the UN
Security Council again makes its will and its unity clear and lays
down a
strong new
UN resolution and mandate. Then Saddam will have the choice:
comply
willingly
or be forced to comply. That is why alongside the diplomacy, there
must be
genuine
preparedness and planning to take action if diplomacy
fails.
“Let me be
plain about our purpose. Of course there is no doubt that Iraq, the
region
and the
whole world would be better off without Saddam. Iraq deserves to be
led by
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