Mr. Speaker, like my colleague, the member for Mercier, I am very proud to talk about sending troops to Iraq. Like my colleague, I have seen that people have indeed accepted that we find strategies for peace instead of strategies involving sending troops to Iraq.
People find it hard to understand Canada's position on this important issue. Canada's position seems ambiguous. Canada is waiting to see what its neighbour will do. People expect us to take a stand here, in the House; they want a free vote on this issue.
The choice before us, for war or for peace, must be made at the United Nations. The best thing we can do, according to UN inspectors, is to give inspectors the time to do their work and allow Saddam Hussein to listen to reason for the good of the world.
In this context, the United States dominating another country is unjustified. The attitude of the U.S. shows that it is trying to pull a fast one over us, and Quebeckers and Canadians and people around the world are well aware of what is going on.
According to the final paragraph of resolution 1441, the United Nations, through the Security Council, must assess the evidence and then make a decision. Mr. Bush does not seem worried about this, and that is what is dangerous. Who needs evidence? The U.S. will go in anyway. Saddam Hussein's bad faith alone justifies the United States' intervention. How can Canada not clearly state whether or not it intends to support the United States?
We in the House must be able to vote on the appropriateness of sending troops to Iraq. Parliamentarians must also be allowed to assess the Security Council's evidence. We cannot take a position at this stage.
Canada is missing an opportunity to have its voice heard before hostilities break out on the ground. We are calling on this government to add to the debate, as France, Belgium, Germany and Russia are doing. The government should announce its true intentions.
I understand why Canada might not want to offend and therefore support its neighbour, the U.S. However, Canada must tell its neighbour that it is on the wrong track, that this is not the best idea it has had.
The attitude of the U.S. in this conflict is imperialist. Look how Mr. Rumsfeld criticized Europe today, how he said that Europe is not inclined to respect human rights in Iraq. That is ridiculous and lacks credibility.
Their goal is not to attack the government of Saddam Hussein, the people are not fooled that easily. Oil may be one of their goals, but their influence over the Middle East might be another one.
Washington is getting restless. The Security Council has its back against the wall. The moment of truth has come for the United Nations. Here is what Mr. Bush and his administration have to say. Soon, the United Nations will have to decide if they have what it takes to maintain peace. Such arrogance on the part of the United States.
Will sending troops be a more effective way to maintain peace? I doubt it. In what way is the U.S. attitude better for maintaining peace than UN inspections? The U.S. does not care about the United Nations; quite often, it has not fulfilled its obligations to this organization. It corrected this just before a war with Iraq. One has to wonder about the confidence they have in this organization.
The U.S. has opted, of course, for the logic of war. For instance, by mid-January, it had submitted a list of requests for support to NATO, measures to protect Turkey, one of Iraq's neighbours. Does this not prove that, as early as mid-January, the U.S. had adopted a logic of war?
So, what is going on in Baghdad? According to both chief inspectors, Messrs. Blix and ElBareidi, the Iraqi authorities have released new disarmament documentation. Cooperation has improved.
I believe we should also listen to the public. Some 46% of Canadians are opposed to sending troops, with or without a UN resolution. Another 43% of them would support a U.S. action, should there be a UN resolution. We must be extremely careful and listen to the public, and hopefully Canada will also.
Let us not be swayed by arguments meant to influence public opinion. Some say, for instance, that it would help resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict; I do not think so. We are told that there are links with al-Qaeda. These two regimes are fighting, they are enemies. Even the CIA is trying to convince Bush not to go there.
They want us to believe they are doing it to protect human rights in Iraq. I do not buy that. It will be urban warfare and hundreds of thousands of people will perish in Iraq. We must be vigilant.
Like my colleague from Mercier, I believe inspections must be allowed to go on, to take place, with more people on the ground as demanded by the new arms inspectors in Iraq.
Being opposed to the war in Iraq does not mean that we believe it is legitimate to possess arms of mass destruction or nuclear weapons. Nor does it mean that Saddam Hussein is acting in good faith, that his regime is not undemocratic and is not guilty of human rights violations. The choice is not between doing nothing or going to war, but rather between going to war or preventing it. I believe that the UN arms inspectors are leaning that way.
France, Germany and Belgium seem to be leaning that way too. This is what various governments in the world are being told by their citizens. What can justify war? Even the U.S. Constitution says that it can only be in self-defence or in case of necessity. That is certainly not the case now.
We need hard evidence. Evidence that something is true, that it can be proven as such. We need concrete, tangible, formal proof and incriminating evidence. It needs to be proven that Iraq possesses arms of mass destruction. Every site was inspected and nothing was found. According to several scientific observers, it is scientifically impossible for Iraq to have arms of mass destruction. After the country was disarmed in 1991, all its sites were destroyed.
Will countries give their approval based on assumptions made by the United States and its British ally? I hope not. This is why we need help from people. Those who want real peace strategies should speak out.
Are circumstances in which one country can attack another not defined in international law? It is called casus belli .
Does the fact that a country possesses weapons of mass destruction justify an attack on that country? If the answer is yes, there would be more than one war today on this planet. Does Israel not possess such weapons, as well as North Korea, India and Pakistan? This is why we have to find other long term solutions to ensure that countries that possess such weapons are under close scrutiny by the United Nations. We must develop strategies based on maintaining peace. A diplomatic strategy is more reassuring than what the United States is preparing to do by attacking Iraq. That is what Washington wants.
What is on the table is a willingness on the part of Saddam Hussein to cooperate more fully; he agrees to be more open. Certainly we must be careful. We must increase the number of inspectors and intensify the inspection process.
A strategy based on means to avoid this war seems far removed from the options lined up by Washington. This is cause for concern. In this context, Canada should encourage the Americans not to pursue their war plan.
The Americans are probably thinking that they must not lose face, since their troops are already there. Their actions will surely be dictated by their ego. Canada should be among those countries trying to influence the United States in order to prevent a massacre that would cost hundreds of lives. Saddam Hussein must be driven against the wall by inspections, not by bombs.