Vol. 567 No. 7
20 Mr. Gormley asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs his views on the fact that the sanctions and the invasion of Iraq were completely unjustified in view of the fact that no weapons of mass destruction have been found in Iraq; and the Government's views on the UN resolution recognising the US/UK occupation of the country. [14939/03]
Sanctions were imposed and maintained by successive resolutions of the Security Council in order to ensure that Iraq was disarmed of its weapons of mass destruction. The responsibility for the continuation of sanctions until very recently lies with the refusal of the Saddam Hussein regime to co-operate fully with the arms inspectors mandated by the Security Council for this purpose. All member states are obliged under the UN Charter to accept and carry out the decisions of the Security Council. The Government could not accept the Deputy's contention that a decision taken by the Security Council was unjustified.
Last November the Security Council adopted Resolution 1441 by consensus. In this resolution, the Security Council recognised the threat to international peace and security posed by Iraq's weapons of mass destruction. This was the view taken by the Security Council and it was based on the fact that Iraq had refused to permit the return of the weapons inspectors since 1998 with the consequence that they had been unable to fulfil their mandate.
Subsequent to this resolution and when faced with the threat of force, Iraq accepted the return of the inspectors. However the degree of co-operation which Iraq extended to the inspectors was described by them as less than full. The reports of the inspectors made it clear that many questions remained unanswered in relation to Iraq's holdings of weapons of mass destruction. The Security Council met to consider the situation arising as a result, but was unable to reach agreement on what further steps to take to meet this situation. In these circumstances, the UK and the US decided to act on the basis of what they consider to be a mandate to use force conferred by earlier Security Council resolutions. Whether or not weapons of mass destruction are discovered in Iraq will not alter the fact that the mandate of the arms inspectors remained unfulfilled at the time of the US-led invasion.
The Government welcomes the unanimous adoption of Security Council Resolution 1483 which sets out the way forward in Iraq and which lays the basis for the future democratic government and economic prosperity of that country and its people. This resolution acknowledges the fact of the US-UK occupation of Iraq and recognises the responsibilities and obligations of the occupying powers. It offers no judgment on the question of legitimacy.
