Martin Mansergh (Fianna Fail)

I welcome the motion which will be agreed on an all-party basis. I also welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Tom Kitt, and his officials. I compliment him on the fine speech he delivered, not for the first time on this subject, which distils the best values this country can contribute to the resolution of the problems in the aftermath of the war.

If one tries to look at this from a half-positive point of view, there is certainly an unprecedented opportunity to deal properly with the humanitarian problems, many of which predate the war. Some are due to sanctions. Frankly, the West cannot be very proud of the way the sanctions operated, accepting also that food aid was distributed in a lop-sided way by the regime. The other condition, apart from the lifting of sanctions, is that a brutal dictatorship is gone. I certainly would not accept – except perhaps in the very short term – that the situation, either in Iraq or Afghanistan, is worse than ever. It has to be much better.

People's attitude to the war, which obviously to a great degree is already made up, is still capable of being influenced and affected by the success or failure of the occupying powers – undoubtedly, the correct term – to overcome the humanitarian problems. I do not care greatly which particular firms profit, or do not profit, from the situation, provided they do what is required to rebuild the country quickly and provided that the medical, social and infrastructural problems are properly and effectively addressed.

It is not possible to divorce this discussion from the ostensible justification, which was not principally humanitarian but revolved around weapons of mass destruction. The questions still hanging in the air are whether the threat was totally exaggerated and whether the evidence was doctored. The work of the UN inspectors was certainly cut short and Dr. Hans Blix remains unhappy about the position. Many of us who dealt with Northern Ireland in the past would have heard a very hollow laugh from the former Northern Ireland Secretary, Dr. John Reid, who once referred to rogue elements in the intelligence services.