Some 47% of the people of Iraq are under 16 years of age. It is unseemly to go to war with a country with such a low age profile, as young people will suffer most. When I worked as an election supervisor in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1998 with the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe, I experienced at first hand the ravages of war. That country will not be fully reconstructed for many generations. If Baghdad and other cities are bombed from 30,000 feet, urban infrastructure will be annihilated and there will be massive loss of life. That such an outcome must be avoided is the bottom line – it is why we are here. This House and the Government should appeal to all sides to pull back from the brink and to give space to the weapons inspectors to do their tasks and meet their responsibilities.