Mr. Speaker, I must say that I was shocked with the remarks by the hon. member for Halifax. I have learned to be sort of inured by the kind of inanity that I hear from the NDP on foreign policy matters but this is really remarkable.
She spoke for 20 minutes about an international crisis provoked by Iraq's non-compliance with 16 United Nations Security Council resolutions over the course of 12 years bringing the civilized world to the brink of violent conflict. In the course of that 20 minutes not once did she condemn Iraq for its continued violation of its international obligations. She spent the entire 20 minutes attacking the United States, the United Kingdom and allied democracies for insisting that Iraq comply and come to terms with the requirements of international security. The member has the obligation entirely backward.
She said that Secretary Powell had not presented hard evidence at the UN Security Council last week to persuade her. What exactly would constitute hard evidence for the member? Should he haul a load of chemical weapon warheads into the UN Security Council chamber? Would that suffice?
Further, I would like the member to clarify whether she actually said this. I believe she said that we should have United Nations peacekeepers enter Iraq to stop Saddam Hussein's human rights abuses. Did she say that? If she did, what she is essentially advocating is the position she opposes. In other words, intervention in Iraq by foreign armed forces to force the Iraqi regime to comply with international law.
Finally, does she think the vote in this place by her predecessor as leader of the CCF, J.S. Woodsworth, in 1939 against the declaration of war with Germany, was morally and historically correct?