Posted on 09/03/2002 7:27:17 AM PDT by Mohammed El-Shahawi
Blair: Iraq Is Real Threat Prime Minister Tony Blair has strengthened his support for a possible US-led attack on Iraq, saying the country "poses a real and unique threat".Mr Blair made the pledge whilst facing the Press at an open forum in his Sedgefield constituency.
"I believe it is in the United Kingdom's national interest that the issue is addressed," he said.
Constant dialogue
The Prime Minister said "America should not face the issue alone" and promised "the fullest possible debate will take part in Parliament and elsewhere".
"The rest of the world has a responsibility, not just America," he said.
Mr Blair denied that Britain and the US had yet made any decisions on the best way to address the danger posed by Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.
But he said: "There is constant dialogue and discussion. We're in close dialogue with the United States. Iraq poses a real and unique threat to the rest of the world."
Telephone talks
"We are confronted with this reality and we have to face up to it and deal with it. The issue is, what is the best way to deal with it."
Mr Blair refused to align himself with US President George W Bush's policy of toppling the Iraqi dictator.
Instead, he said Saddam must take immediate action to comply with UN resolutions on weapons of mass destruction.
"Either the regime starts to change its ways, or the regime must change," he said.
'No doubt at all'
"The key objective with us is to deal with the threat. The key issue is Iraq continues to build up the chemical, biological and nuclear threat."
Mr Blair said he expected to publish a dossier of evidence proving the danger posed by Saddam "in the next few weeks".
"I think that when that happens, people will see that there is no doubt at all the United Nations resolutions that he stands in breach of are there for a purpose."
It will be a heavy document that will stun the reader by its sheer size. However, it will be a rehash.
Really? How do you know Saddam isn't a slight delay away from being able to manufacture and distribute WMD?
Obviously, I don't know for sure that an extra two weeks' or a month's delay won't be precisely the exact additional time he needs, but, since we agree that he has been working diligently on these projects for many years, and with no inspectors to inhibit him for the past four years, a delay that would only amount to a very small percentage of the total time already spent might be worthwhile if the inspectors are able to spook him into having to hurriedly move some systems around so that our satellites might observe them. Having the inspectors visit certain areas is also helpful in minimizing the probability that such sites would be useful targets. Clearly, Saddam has the ability to move weapons around and hide them all over Iraq. It wouldn't hurt to know that professional inspection teams had ruled out certain sites. Like the old game of Battleship, knowing where not to strike is quite useful in determining where to strike.
A potential problem with reinstituting inspections could occur if the inspectors were unable to find anything at all. Daschle, Carville and the boys will be screaming about a witch hunt and spending all kinds of money for nothing. Realistically, I would be willing to predict it would only be a very short visit by inspectors until they either found evidence of weapons being built or, more likely, were prevented from entering a particular facility by the Iraqis. That would be immediate cause to withdraw the inspectors, and would yield some useful targeting information. We've waited ten years to finish this bastard off. Two or three more weeks is unlikely to make a difference.
No. Britain's diplomatic communication lines with other nations are older and more respected than those of the US. I'm thinking Blair will repeat his role of disseminating the indictment against Al Qeada, by making the case against Saddam to the international community.
Strange how this is stepping-up.
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