Seanad debates

Thursday, 6 February 2003

Iraq Crisis: Statements (Resumed).

 

At the end of the day this could lead to war. The important point, on which we are all agreed, is that war should be the last resort, not the first. I, too, saw the telecasts of Secretary of State Colin Powell's address to the United Nations. It was quite powerful in many ways. Like some, I thought that there was some doubt about Iraq's nuclear potential but there is little doubt about its potential for biological warfare. It is known to have been there and if it has been destroyed, somebody should be able to show that it has or otherwise account for it. I was rather less convinced that taking on Iraq militarily at the moment would do much for international terrorism, which is of great concern to us all. The opposite might well be true: I fear that an attack on Iraq at this stage would not only do untold damage to civilian populations but also have enormous repercussions in the Arab world, which extends from Indonesia to Casablanca. As an action against terrorism, we may end up sowing dragons' teeth by the bushel. The effect would be to make every American a target.

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