John Minihan (Progressive Democrats)

I welcome the opportunity to speak in this debate on an issue of grave international importance. In Iraq, the cradle of civilisation, tens of thousands of men and women are engaged in the most uncivilised endeavour known to man – armed conflict. Much has been said about the rights and wrongs of this conflict and views vary. We should be thankful that we live in a democracy in which we can hold different views and feel confident in expressing them. I respect those differing views. Nowhere were such differences more evident than in the House of Commons recently when Robin Cook and Prime Minister Blair both made passionate, sincere speeches. Who is right? We are not in position to answer now. We must leave it to historians to judge in the future.

I wish to address Ireland's role in the resolution of the conflict in Iraq and its relations with the protagonists. In war, whichever side may call itself the victor, there are no winners, all are losers. So said Neville Chamberlain in 1938. As a former United Nations peacekeeper, I can only concur with those sentiments. War and its aftermath are never pleasant. Death, destruction and destitution are the inevitable lot of the so-called losing side, while their opponents will suffer psychological problems for years to come. War, terrorism, genocide, mass murder and injustice are all evil. All human acts are committed by mankind. We live in an imperfect world run by imperfect people making imperfect decisions.

War is also a sign of failure on the part of the international community to act as one, and in good time. In 1936 the League of Nations failed to act when, in contravention of the Versailles treaty, Germany occupied the Rheinland. That failure lead inexorably to the Second World War. More recently, the United Nations and the European Community procrastinated as conflict unfolded in the Balkans. The atrocity in Srebrenica, on a day of shame for all right-minded people, was yet another example of inaction. Perhaps the present situation in Iraq offers another example. Had the United Nations acted sooner and with more resolve in the face of Saddam Hussein's repeated and flagrant breaches of the Gulf War ceasefire terms, perhaps we would not be in this position today.