Mr. Speaker, I heard the hon. member refer several times to a putative need for more time to allow the inspections process to work.
I think his comment, although undoubtedly well intentioned, is based on a profound misunderstanding of the obligations that Iraq finds itself under UNSCR 1441 and the 15 resolutions that preceded it.
The model which these resolutions create, the obligation, is not on the weapons inspectors to play hide and seek in Iraq. It is not to multiply the number of inspectors to search and find hidden weapons, rather there is only one obligation under 1441 and the other resolutions and that obligation is on Iraq to immediately disarm. The inspectors are not searchers or investigators; they are verifiers. They are there to watch the Iraqi regime and to verify that it has destroyed its weapons of mass destruction.
Resolution 1441 states that the inspectors were not able to do their job after several years in the 1990s. It is asserted in resolution 1441 that Iraq was in material breach of its obligations over the course of 12 years leading up to this moment. The member said we need more time.
How much more time is he prepared to give and what kind of risks is he prepared to have the United States and other democracies tolerate as long as we know that this dangerous dictator is in the possession of weapons that can destroy tens of thousands of lives at his whim? How long is he prepared, and does he not understand that the obligation is on Iraq and not on the inspectors to verify destruction of these materials?