The Report
of the Iraq Inquiry
290.
In his
statement, Mr Blair addressed both the threat to international
peace
and
security presented by Iraq’s defiance of the UN and its failure to
comply with
its disarmament
obligations as set out in resolution 1441 (2002). Iraq was “the
test
of whether
we treat the threat seriously”.
291.
Mr Blair
rehearsed the Government’s position on Iraq’s past pursuit and use
of
weapons of
mass destruction; its failures to comply with the obligations
imposed by
the UN
Security Council between 1991 and 1998; Iraq’s repeated
declarations which
proved to
be false; and the “large quantities of weapons of mass destruction”
which
were
“unaccounted for”. He described UNSCOM’s final report (in January
1999) as
“a withering
indictment of Saddam’s lies, deception and
obstruction”.
292.
Mr Blair
cited the UNMOVIC “clusters” document issued on 7 March as
“a
remarkable
document”, detailing “all the unanswered questions about Iraq’s
weapons
of mass
destruction”, listing “29 different areas in which the inspectors
have been unable
to obtain
information”.
293.
He stated
that, based on Iraq’s false declaration, its failure to co-operate,
the
unanswered
questions in the UNMOVIC “clusters” document, and the unaccounted
for
material,
the Security Council should have convened and condemned Iraq as in
material
breach of
its obligations. If Saddam Hussein continued to fail to co-operate,
force should
be
used.
294.
Addressing the
wider message from the issue of Iraq, Mr Blair
asked:
“… what …
would any tyrannical regime possessing weapons of mass
destruction
think when
viewing the history of the world’s diplomatic dance with Saddam
over …
12 years?
That our capacity to pass firm resolutions has only been matched by
our
feebleness
in implementing them.”
295.
Mr Blair
acknowledged that Iraq was “not the only country with weapons of
mass
destruction”,
but declared: “back away from this confrontation now, and future
conflicts
will be
infinitely worse and more devastating in their
effects”.
“The real
problem is that … people dispute Iraq is a threat, dispute the link
between
terrorism
and weapons of mass destruction, and dispute in other words, the
whole
basis of
our assertion that the two together constitute a fundamental
assault on our
way of
life.”
297.
Mr Blair
also described a “threat of chaos and disorder” arising from
“tyrannical
regimes
with weapons of mass destruction and extreme terrorist groups”
prepared
to use
them.
608