.Bulletin de liaison et d'information - Institut kurde de Paris

Revue de Presse-Press Review-Berhevoka Çapê-Rivista Stampa-Dentro de la Prensa-Basm Özeti
The priee of
myeonvietion
nvs.is an edited'
extract of the
Prime Minister's
speech to
delegates at the
Labour Party's
. spring conference
in Glasgow
yesterday
," Tony Blair
'.~'1tells critics
,;, of war that
'f:iltleaving
Saddam in power
has a 'blood cost'
I CONTINUE to want to solve the issue of
Iraq and weapons of mass destruction
. through the UN. Dr BIix reported to the
UN yesterday and there will be more time
given to inspections. But let no one forget
two things. To anyone familiar with Saddam's
tactics of deception and evasion,
there is a weary sense of déjà vu. As ever,
at the last minute, concessions are made.
And, as ever, it is the long finger that is
directing them. The concessions are suspect;
unfortunately, the weapons are real.
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? Ifhe is, the inspectors can
take as much time as they want. Ifhe 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.
Remember: the UJ:ilinspectors would
. not be within 1,000miles ofBaghdad with-
, out the threat afforce. Saddam would not
, be making a single concession without
, the knowledge that forces were gathering
, against him. Ihope, even now, Iraq can be
disarmed peacefully, with or without Saddam.
But if we show weakness now, ifwe
. allow the plea for more time to become
:just an excuse for prevarication until the
moment for action passes, it will not only
: be SaddarD.who is repeating history. The
. menace will grow, the authority of the UN
. will be lost and the conflict when it comes
will be morebloody.
11SEPTEMBER DID NOT just kill thousands
of innocent people. It was.lPeant to.
bring down the Western economy. It'did
not do so, but we live with the effects of it
even today. It was meant to divide Muslim
and Christian, Arab and Western
nations, and to provoke us to hate each
. other. It didn't succeed, but that is what it
. wastryingtodo.
States developing weapons of mass
destruction, proliferating them, importing
or exporting the scientific expèrtise,
the ballistic missile technology, the companies
and individuals helping them
don't operate within any international
treaties. They don't conform to any rules.
And with terrorist gy:oups alrêady
using chemical and biological agents
with money to spend, do we really believe
that if al-Qaeda could get a dirty bomb
they wouldn't use it? Think of the consequences.
Thillk of a nation using a nuclear
device, no matter how small, no matter
how distant the land. That is why
Saddam .and weapons of mass destruction
are iniportant.
At every stage, we should seek to avoid
war. But if the threat cannot be removed
peacefully, please let us not fall for the
delusion that it can be safely ignored.
AI-Qaeda attacked the US, not the
other way round. Were the people of Bali
in the forefront of the anti-terror campaign?
Did Indonesia 'make itself a target'?
The terrorists won't be nice to us if
we're nice to them. When Saddam drew
us into the Gulf war, he was not provoked.
He invaded Kuwait.
No one seriously believes Saddam is
yet co-operating fully. lil all honesty.
most people don't really believe he ever
will. So what holds people back? What
brings thousands of people out in:protests
al'.vss the world? And let's not pretend
th;.t in March or April or Mayor June
people will feel different. It's not really an
'There will be ne m~rches for Saddam's'victims.'
issue of timing or 200inspectors versus
. 100.It is a right and entirely understandable
hatred ()fwar. It is moral purpose,
and I respect that.
BUTTHE MORALcase against war has a
moral answer: it is the moral case for
removing Saddam. It,is not the reason
we act. That must be according to the
UN mandate on weapons of mass
destruction. But.it:is the reason, frankly,
why if we do have to act, we should do so
'with a clear conscience.
Yes, there are consequences of war. If
we remove Saddam by force, people
will die, and 'some will be
innocent. And we must live with
the consequences of our actions,
. even the unintended ones.
But there are also consequences
of 'stop the war'. There
will he po march for the victims of Saddam.np
protests about the thousands of
chillil'en that die needlessly every year
under his rule. no lighteous anger over the
torture chambers which if he is Il'll in
power, will remain in being.
I rejoice that we live in a country
where peaceful protest i.sa natural part of
our democratic process. But I ask the
marchers to understand this.
I do not seek unpopularity as a badge
of honour. But sometimes it is the price uf
leadership and the cost of conviction ..
If there are 500,000on the [Stop the
War] march, that is still less than the
number of people whose deaths Saddam
has been responsible for. If there are one
million, that is still less than the number
of people who died in the wars he startect.
So if the result ofpeace is Saddam'staying
in power, not disarmed, then I tell you
there are consequences paid in blood for
that decision too. But these victims will
never be seen, never feature on our TV
,screens or inspire millions to take to the
stree~. But they will exist none thé less.
I walit us to be a Government which
has the intelligence, the vision and the
foresight to see that there is nothing
inconsistent in saying that we will
increase our aid to development and give
, hope to Africa. yet be preparecl if necessary
to fight to defend the values we
believe in. . .
This is the testing time, the
difficult, the tough time, but if
we come through it the prize
is not just a Government
able tu carryon; it is far
more important than that:
it is a signal that we will
have changed politics for
good.
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