Al-Ahram Weekly | Opinion | "We must not cut corners"

		3 - 9 October 2002 Issue No. 606 Opinion	Current issue Previous issue Site map
Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875		Recommend this page

"We must not cut corners"
French Minister of Foreign Affairs Dominique de Villepin, argues that "any action aimed at regime change... opens the door to all kinds of excesses"

Confronted with the Iraqi crisis, the international community is at a critical moment in its history. Every state must face up to its responsibilities. More than ever, France is determined to hold a clear course.
Yes, Iraq is a potential threat to regional and international security. Yes, the fight against the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction presents an essential challenge for the future of every one of us. Yes, Iraq has defied the international community by concealing programmes concerning these weapons: if she does not yet have nuclear capabilities, all the indications make us think that she has reconstituted biological and chemical capacities.
Faced with this challenge, our duty is to combine firmness with clear-sightedness. In the wake of the 11 September attacks, thanks to our mobilisation in the fight against terrorism we obtained results.
With regard to Iraq, we must renew this unity through a shared determination: to combat the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. This is clearly the priority. France in no way condones Baghdad's activities, but any action aimed at regime change would be at variance with the rules of international law and open the door to all kinds of excesses.
Since President Bush's recent speech, recognising the primordial role of the United Nations, the debate has been able to resume in this forum, in which a broad consensus has emerged. In the face of such unity, on 16 September, Baghdad made known its acceptance of the unconditional return of the international inspectors. Their work has to lead to the elimination of every weapon of mass destruction and may prevent any future rearmament. Let us not forget that a larger number of these weapons were destroyed as a result of the inspections between 1991 and 1998 than during the Gulf War.
The danger presented by Iraq concerns all the world's peoples and, in the first place, those of the Middle East. It is with them that we shall be able to find a lasting solution. These countries have made it known that they would support action decided on by the United Nations. It is for us to heed that message.
Today, all attention is focused on the discussions which are going to begin at the Security Council. The two-step approach proposed by President Chirac makes it possible to maintain the international community's unity, strengthen the legitimacy of the action and satisfy our demand for efficacy: Iraq must comply with international law; if she refuses to obey it, then all the appropriate conclusions will need to be drawn. This path is the only one capable of ensuring control at every stage of the crisis.
So initially it's important to agree, within the Security Council, on an inspection regime guaranteeing that the inspectors will be able to carry out their mission in full with no hindrance. In the event of the Iraqi regime violating these obligations, it would be for the Council to decide on measures to be taken. We must not cut corners. We do not want to give a blank cheque to military action, since we want to shoulder our responsibility to the end. This is why we cannot accept a resolution authorising right now the recourse to force, without going back to the United Nations Security Council.
France shares the United States' determination to resolve a crisis which threatens us all. But she refuses the risk of an intervention which would not take all the demands of collective security fully into account.
Going beyond the Iraqi crisis, it is the international community's fundamental principles which are at stake: stability, fairness, responsibility.
Stability remains a strategic demand. While Iraqi disarmament constitutes an imperative, it must be carried out under conditions which strengthen international order, without adding new factors leading to further disorder in a region which already has too many, without bringing new risks of clashes in that area at the heart of the world's fault lines. For France, order does not signify either weakness or impotence, but the exercise of determination and clear-sightedness to bring about the lasting settlement of crises.
Fairness is the second pillar of peace. Against a background of emergency situations and interdependence, the hallmark of our era, injustice creates rebellion, rebellion disorder and disorder violence, in a vicious circle, repeated in country after country, region after region, continent after continent. At a moment when it is determined to resolve the Iraqi disarmament problem, the international community must adopt the same approach to the Middle East crisis with a view to rejoining the path to finding a settlement.
Finally, collective responsibility is a moral and political necessity. Moral, because democracies become totally meaningless if they fail to honour abroad the principles underpinning them at home. Political, because only collective decisions secure the legitimacy necessary for far-reaching, coherent and effective action. Force can only be a last resort.
The decisions to be taken tomorrow are going to shape the new face of the world. The treatment of the Iraqi crisis will influence its spirit and structures. Collective security will depend on the international community's determination to enforce the law. But if it is to last, the new order has to be built on the basis of sharing and exchange. Against a background of growing fear and intolerance, worsening tension and incomprehension, the task of bringing our peoples closer together demands the patient assertion of a community of values and rules, and recognition of a single destiny. Success in this rests too on respect for the Other achieved through genuine dialogue.

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