<http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-603270,00.html
Dr Blix did not, however, tell the Security Council until after yesterday’s foreign ministers’ meeting that he had discovered a new Iraqi drone that could be used to spray chemical weapons over a range of 300 miles. The ultimatum was proposed by Jack Straw in a dramatic speech in which he called on the international community to uphold the will of the UN.
France’s Dominique de Villepin had rejected the deadline as a pretext for war, declaring “We cannot accept an ultimatum as long as inspectors are reporting co-operation. France will not allow a resolution to pass that authorises the automatic use of force.”
But Mr Straw took on M Villepin in open combat, saying that the pressure on Saddam had come because there were “over 200,000 US and UK young men and young women willing to put their lives on the line for the sake of this body, the UN”. Saddam must be put to the test.
The Foreign Secretary accused M de Villepin of posing a “false choice” in suggesting that the Council could choose peace or war: “The choice, Dominique, is not ours as to how this disarmament takes place, it is Saddam Hussein’s.”