6.2 |
Military planning for the invasion, January to March
2003
651.
President Bush
explicitly warned all Iraqis against destroying oil wells or
using
weapons of
mass destruction: “War crimes will be prosecuted. War criminals
will
be punished.”
652.
The British
Embassy Washington reported that a White House spokesman
had
“amplified”
the President’s statement and said that, if Saddam were to comply
with the
deadline
and go into exile, US troops would still enter Iraq in order to
pursue and disarm
WMD; and
that he hoped the international community would consider
prosecuting
Saddam
Hussein for war crimes even in the case of exile.228
653.
Separately,
the Embassy reported that President Bush had decided to
publish
the names
of nine Iraqis who were regarded as either war criminals or having
decisive
command and
control responsibilities.229
654.
Debates on
Iraq took place in both the House of Commons and the House of
Lords
on 18 March
2003 (see Section 3.8).
655.
The Government
motion for the debate included an invitation to the House
of
Commons
to:
•
note the
opinion of the Attorney General that, Iraq having failed to comply
and
Iraq being
at the time of resolution 1441 and continuing to be in material
breach,
the
authority to use force under resolution 1441 had revived and so
continued
that
day;
•
believe
that the United Kingdom must uphold the authority of the United
Nations
as set out
in resolution 1441 and many resolutions preceding it, and
therefore
support the
decision of Her Majesty’s Government that the United
Kingdom
should use
all means necessary to ensure the disarmament of Iraq’s
weapon’s
of mass
destruction;
•
offer
wholehearted support to the men and women of Her Majesty’s
Armed
Forces on
duty in the Middle East; and
•
in the event
of military action require that, on an urgent basis, the United
Kingdom
should seek
a new Security Council resolution that would affirm Iraq’s
territorial
integrity,
ensure rapid delivery of humanitarian relief, allow for the
earliest
possible
lifting of UN sanctions, an international reconstruction
programme,
and the use
of all oil revenues for the benefit of the Iraqi people and
endorse
an
appropriate post-conflict administration for Iraq, leading to a
representative
government
which upholds human rights and the rule of law for all
Iraqis.230
228
Telegram
359 Washington to FCO London, 19 March 2003, ‘US/Iraq: Update, 18
March’.
229
Telegram
353 Washington to FCO London, 18 March 2003, ‘Iraq: Top
Crooks’.
230
House of
Commons, Official
Report, 18 March
2003, column 7604.
491