Madam Speaker, on behalf of the New Democratic Party I am very pleased this evening to participate in this important debate on Iraq, focusing specifically on the crucial role which Canada can and must play in avoiding any possible disastrous war in Iraq.
I am greatly relieved that this debate is taking place on the very day that an agreement has been reached assuring the return of the UN weapons inspection team into Iraq. This resumption of inspections to detect and destroy any illegal nuclear, chemical or biological weapons in full compliance with existing UN Security Council rules is a critically important step toward easing the terrifying tension that has been escalating between Iraq and the U.S., tensions which potentially could threaten to destabilize all the Middle East.
Members are aware that the foreign affairs committee met recently at the urging of both the New Democratic Party and the Bloc Québecois to encourage our own federal government to play a more proactive role in facilitating re-entry of the weapons inspectors into Iraq. With the exception of the Alliance always more interested in supporting the Bush administration's sabre rattling, all MPs participating on that foreign affairs committee were of one accord about the importance of Canada being more proactive in helping to facilitate the return of the weapons inspectors to Iraq and averting any war in Iraq.
The agreement reached today to ensure resumption of inspections for any weapons of mass destruction has been welcomed by the entire international community with the exception sadly, but predictably, of the United States. Instead of applauding this important step on the path to peace, what did we hear from White House officials this afternoon? We heard more talk threatening pre-emptive military strikes and unprecedented measures to force regime change in defiance of international law and even in defiance of its own 1976 directive forbidding assassination as an instrument of U.S. foreign policy.
Happily these dangerous provocations by the U.S. administration have not been mimicked on this occasion by the British prime minister. It was a relief for all of those who have been working to diffuse U.S.-Iraqi tensions to learn that Prime Minister Tony Blair had supported a labour party resolution at its annual convention in Blackpool yesterday declaring that British troops would participate in any action against Iraq only “after the exhaustion of all other political and diplomatic measures”.
We should welcome that moderation on the part of the British prime minister, and at the same time congratulate those within his own party and within Great Britain who have worked very hard to try to persuade the British prime minister not to act in accordance with George Bush in the kind of sabre rattling toward Iraq that we have seen all too frequently in recent weeks and months.
That brings me to Canada's current position. The New Democratic Party on several occasions has congratulated the Prime Minister and the Minister of Foreign Affairs for their strong assertions and strong declarations urging multilateralism, insisting upon international law. It was reassuring earlier this evening to hear the foreign affairs minister give assurances that he would continue to advocate international law and multilateralism in our efforts to avert war in Iraq. However it is worrisome that both the Prime Minister and the Minister of Foreign Affairs in every other statement on alternate days it seems, sound far more like errand boys for the Bush administration as it continues to ratchet up its war threats.
Members will remember that just a couple of years ago very proudly in this Parliament, Canada conferred upon Nelson Mandela the award of honourary Canadian citizen. It was a proud moment.
We would do well on this occasion to heed the recent warnings of Nelson Mandela that the U.S. threats to attack Iraq are “introducing chaos in international affairs”. We can be sure that Nelson Mandela did not choose those words lightly when he described the United States as a threat to world peace for its campaign to overthrow the government of Iraq. For him to have said so clearly that it must be condemned in the strongest possible terms is something that we need to take very seriously.
Perhaps not quite as dramatic in his assertions, UN secretary general Kofi Annan has similarly warned for any state large or small choosing to follow or reject the multilateral path must not be a simple matter of political convenience.
This past week I was in Washington D.C. There is serious and mounting opposition in that American capital and throughout the United States to the advocacies of the U.S. president to act outside of international law. Congresswoman Barbara Lee, much respected for her courageous opposition to the American war in Afghanistan, continues to speak out. She said:
Our nation is today on the verge of going to war against Iraq. In a rush to launch a first strike, we risk destabilizing the Middle East and setting an international precedent that could come back to haunt us all. President Bush's doctrine of pre-emption violates international law, the charter of the United Nations and our own long-term security interests. It forecloses alternatives to war before we have even tried to pursue them.
Senator Ted Kennedy is another of those who has been questioning the Bush approach to solving international crises, reminding us “There are realistic alternatives between doing nothing and declaring unilateral or immediate war”. He went on to say:
A largely unilateral American war that is widely perceived in the Muslim world as untimely or unjust could worsen not lessen the threat of terrorism. War with Iraq before a genuine attempt at inspection and disarmament, or without genuine international support--could swell the ranks of Al Qaeda sympathizers and trigger an escalation in terrorist acts.
Surely these warnings should be sufficient for Canada to ensure that the weapons inspection agreement reached today proceeds without putting that agreement at risk by introducing another Security Council resolution. It is worth reminding ourselves that in 1998, when the previous American administration called off UN weapons inspections in Iraq, 90% to 95% of Iraqi weapons and their production facilities had been destroyed.
With the United Nations inspections now resuming, providing solid hope that war can be averted, it is more important than ever that our own government get its act together. Unfortunately, the Prime Minister, his Deputy Prime Minister and the Minister of Foreign Affairs have been delivering different messages to different audiences on different occasions.
No other country is positioned as uniquely as Canada to pressure the U.S. to back off from further demanding new more militant Security Council resolutions threatening military aggression against Iraq if it fails to comply with existing Security Council resolutions. We are after all the largest trading partner and closest neighbour of the United States. While we took part in the gulf war, Canada continues to enjoy the respect of Iraq and, astonishingly perhaps, its seal of approval for the role of diplomatic intermediary. This is a unique opportunity for Canada and for our Prime Minister to step up their efforts to get the world on a path of lasting peace.
Critics who have forgotten our recent contribution on the world court in the international landmines treaty will cynically argue that negotiations are ongoing at the UN and members of its Security Council are currently already negotiating the contents of the next resolution on Iraq. Canada, after all, does not have the power to persuade the U.S. or others that the U.S. has pushed in supporting more militant, strident Security Council resolutions.
Canada should not bury its head in the sand and leave the difficult diplomatic work to other nations. We have a moral obligation to assert ourselves internationally in this debate in an even more aggressive way than we have done to date. We have a rich legacy of made in Canada solutions to challenges facing the global community and thousands of innocent Iraqis, already suffering from a decade of economic strangulation, are depending upon Canada to try to persuade the U.S. to seize the opportunity that has opened up for weapons inspections to resume. It is not naive. It is a fact that if we assume the very worst of any citizen or of any nation of the world, then we are likely to bring on the very worst.
As we participate in this evening's debate, the question has shifted dramatically to whether there is a need for another UN Security Council resolution. This is what we know. As we debate the issue in the House tonight the world is reacting with relief to the news that Iraq accepts all rights of inspections provided for in all existing relevant Security Council resolutions.
For years Canada joined the world in demanding that Iraq agree to the resumption of weapons inspections and that it meet all of the conditions outlined in the current Security Council resolutions. Today Iraq has officially complied. How does Canada react? It signals its support for another UN Security Council resolution.
I am astounded at the position of members of the official opposition. I do not know why I am astounded. Nothing should surprise us any more. Their gung ho approach to attacking Iraq, circumventing the legitimate role of the United Nations and the absolute necessity for a multilateral approach is downright scary. They seem prepared for the U.S., in fact they seem to want the U.S., flanked by Canada and the U.K., guns ablazing, to go right on in and attack Iraq. How absolutely irresponsible and absolutely insulting to all those nations that have worked so hard on the diplomatic front to bring about a non-violent solution. They probably regard the Bush administration's new foreign policy doctrine as too mild.
What we as a nation should be debating is what it is that Canada can do on the diplomatic front to ensure that Iraq does meet its obligations. That is the window of opportunity that has opened up to the world.
Tonight the New Democratic Party suggests that instead of the counterproductive approach of another UN security resolution, the global community offers the more positive reward of a return to the global community and the removal of economic sanctions that have strangled the Iraq population for over a decade. Let Canada live up to our proud diplomatic tradition. Let us live up to what the international community believes that we can achieve by staying the course for peace.