Last year, 12 long years after the UN first gave him 15 days to produce a full audit of his chemical, biological and nuclear weapons programmes and he denied he had any, we passed UN Resolution 1441. It gave him a "final opportunity" to disarm. It instructed him to co-operate fully with the UN inspectors. Why was the inspection regime so tough? Because for 12 years, he had played a game with the inspectors.
In 1991 Iraq denied it had a biological weapons offensive programme. For four years the inspectors toiled. It was not until 1995 that Saddam's son-in-law defected to Jordan, explained the true biological weapons programme and it was partially dealt with. He was, of course lured back to Iraq and then murdered.
The time needed is not the time it takes the inspectors to discover the weapons. They are not a detective agency. We played that game for years in the 1990s. The time is the time necessary to make a judgment: is Saddam prepared to co-operate fully or not. If he is, the inspectors can take as much time as they want. If he is not, if this is a repeat of the 1990s - and I believe it is - then let us be under no doubt what is at stake.
By going down the UN route we gave the UN an extraordinary opportunity and a heavy responsibility. The opportunity is to show that we can meet the menace to our world today together, collectively and as a united international community. What a mighty achievement that would be. The responsibility, however, is indeed to deal with it.
The League of Nations also had that opportunity and responsibility back in the 1930s. In the early days of the fascist menace, it had the duty to protect Abyssinia from invasion. But when it came to a decision to enforce that guarantee, the horror of war deterred it. We know the rest. The menace grew; the League of Nations collapsed; war came.
Remember: the UN inspectors would not be within a thousand miles of Baghdad without the threat of force. Saddam would not be making a single concession without the knowledge that forces were gathering against him. I hope, even now, Iraq can be disarmed peacefully, with or without Saddam. But if we show weakness now, if we allow the plea for more time to become just an excuse for prevarication until the moment for action passes, then it will not only be Saddam who is repeating history. The menace, and not just from Saddam, will grow; the authority of the UN will be lost; and the conflict when it comes will be more bloody. Yes, let the United Nations be the way to deal with Saddam. But let the United Nations mean what it says; and do what it means.
The problem, Patricia, is in that bolded part.
The UN is going to do NOTHING if left to itself. And very likely will do nothing in any instance. It is going to be up to us, the Australians, and those European nations that back us to settle this.
send that message in a fax to the White House the next time they snub their nose at the world community
The "world community" deserves to be snubbed. It's record for failure is almost unbroken. There have been a few instances where it has acted, but not many. There have been many where it has not.
Also, concession is a two way street.
What concession are we speaking of here? I'd say we've given quite enough to Saddam. |
