Frank Feighan (Fine Gael)

I welcome the Minister of State on the occasion of the debate on this emotive and difficult subject. We should hope lives will be saved and that this will not be a war that we will remember for the wrong reasons. I say that because I am a pacifist and the topic of war in general is something that easily and profoundly offends my sensitivities. War is sometimes necessary but sometimes it makes monsters out of people, even good ones. One must have the right to question the wisdom of such decisions, which is what I am here to do today.

We are living long, free and good lives, mainly because of the sacrifices the United States endured, certainly during the Second World War. Some like to be anti-American but I accept and realise the reality of the sight of body bags. The bodies of some 70,000 American soldiers are lying in graveyards in France. As I cycled through Normandy, I saw all those graveyards. It represents the ultimate sacrifice.

Abraham Lincoln wrote a letter to Mr. and Mrs. Bixby of Boston. Unfortunately, many such letters will be copied and sent to many in the United States which we must thank for making the ultimate sacrifice, which I genuinely believe it has. It has ensured we can live good and free lives.

It is no secret that the United States has bombed Iraq on seven occasions since the end of the Gulf War in 1991. If it had followed up on what it did in 1991, this war would not be happening. We should have got rid of Saddam Hussein in 1991. That is my personal opinion but at the time I may have been one of those who would have said enough was enough.

By last September it was clear that Washington was planning a full-scale invasion of Iraq. We went through the charade of the debate in the United Nations in this regard. No nation has a deeper interest in the success of the United Nations than this one. We rely on it for collective security in the world. The fight against global terrorism cannot be won by just one country; it must be won collectively. Even a powerful country such as the United States cannot win it. It must have the support of all its friends.

I wonder why North Korea's plans in regard to nuclear weapons have been virtually ignored. Disarming Iraq is essential and urgent to have a committed and safer world. I do not know whether the war in Iraq will make a significant contribution to achieving this goal but hope it will not give international terrorists new rallying cries and causes. The 1991 war in Iraq was backed by a Security Council resolution which supported the provision of facilities at Shannon Airport for US forces on their way to the Gulf. If member states of the United Nations act in their own interest, it will not be long before the United Nations goes the way of the League of Nations. Who will then secure international peace?