Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2001-03-01-Speech-4-020"
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"en.20010301.1.4-020"2
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".
Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, I have the impression that the bombing of military targets in Iraq has once again shown the continued extent to which the European Union and in particular, the Council of Ministers have no voice in the matter of foreign and security policy. We must also point out that the way in which the United Nations operates, whereby actions are only implemented when the Security Council has reached an appropriate decision, would mean that, in order for UN resolutions to be executed and implemented against a regime like that of Saddam Hussein, dictatorships such as China would have to give their consent in each individual case. As a result, it becomes impossible to take action against dictators such as Hussein.
Therefore, it is not right that the Security Council should decide in each individual case. Rather, cases should be handled in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations. I believe that it is imperative to make a distinction in this regard.
We all agree that Saddam Hussein is a mass-murderer who is carrying out a renewed rearmament programme in nuclear, biological and chemical weapons, that it is in the interests of the safety of the European Union and the world to prevent this, that this also lies within the framework of the UN resolutions and that, at the same time, the protection of minorities in southern or northern Iraq also falls within the remit of these resolutions. Action against military targets must therefore be permitted, particularly since aerial inspections are otherwise impossible due to the risk presented to the aircraft themselves.
However, a great debate is raging in the region which may ultimately culminate in the elevation of Saddam Hussein, a prolific violator of human rights in this region, to hero status in the Arab world. Therefore any military action must take this situation into account and consequently it is also necessary to weigh up the situation; what can be done on the one hand to benefit the civilian population, to promote their survival and to ensure the provision of medical supplies and food, and what can be done, on the other hand, to ensure the fight against this regime. For this reason, Colin Powell’s proposal that there should be modified types of sanctions should be welcomed. I believe that we should constructively and actively participate in defining these. This must involve using every instrument to destabilise Saddam Hussein’s regime. At the same time, however, we need to make a distinction in this regard so that the burden is not borne solely by innocent people in Iraq. For this reason, that is for humanitarian reasons, we should attempt to adjust our actions, but at the same time to use these as an instrument to conduct the PR battle currently underway in this area and designed to promote our interests in enforcing international law, democracy and human rights in this region.
I believe that we must put this policy into action in such a way so as to enable Iraqi people to move away from the threat of Saddam Hussein’s regime and into the free world and also in such a way as to prevent Saddam Hussein from becoming a hero of the Arab world. In this respect, therefore, I feel that a heavy military operation against Saddam’s military installations and the curbing of the rearmament programme is the correct path to take. At the same time, however, I feel that the Iraqi people should be given the chance to survive."@en1
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