Paschal Mooney (Fianna Fail)

These facts do not indicate that he is intent on wreaking destruction and havoc on innocent women and children in Iraq.

Despite America's hurt and awesome military might, the Bush Administration needs to understand that unilateralism has had its day and that the rule of law among civilised states supersedes all other considerations. A set of rules must be established and accepted before military intervention can proceed. UN Resolution 1441 sets the framework for how to proceed. If the US Administration believes it has the right to launch a military invasion of a sovereign country without a second resolution, the view of America's friends and foes – that the US believes might is right and American interests take precedence over civilised world order – will be confirmed. I cannot, however, accept the view that inaction on Iraq will ultimately see the situation resolved or will lead to Saddam Hussein going into exile, thus paving the way for a new democratic regime.

When I hear calls for non-intervention at any cost, I remember what happened in Bosnia and Rwanda less than ten years ago. The course of Balkan history, with its record of intolerance among its constituent entities, influenced the decision of the West not to get involved in military action in the early 1990s. The collective failure of resolve on the part of western Europe, including Ireland, led to the evil of Slobodan Milosevic. Who remembers the long trail of peace brokers, temporary ceasefires, sanctions and international mediators?

The declaration of six safe areas for Bosnian Muslims, protected by lightly equipped UN troops, was followed by the events of 11 July 1995. The world watched in horror as the Bosnian Serb army, led by the war criminal Ratko Mladic, entered the safe haven of Srebrenica, disarmed the Dutch UN force and separated men and boys from women and small children before taking them away to their deaths. A small UN force was brushed aside a year earlier in the tragic country of Rwanda. The world turned its back as millions were slaughtered there.