335. Iraq had acted suspiciously over many years, which led to the inferences drawn
by the Government and the intelligence community that it had been seeking to protect
concealed WMD assets. When Iraq denied that it had retained any WMD capabilities,
the UK Government accused it of lying.
336. This led the Government to emphasise the ability of Iraq successfully to deceive the inspectors, and cast doubt on the investigative capacity of the inspectors. The role of the inspectors, however, as was often pointed out, was not to seek out assets that had been hidden, but rather to validate Iraqi claims.
337. By March 2003, however:
• The Al Samoud 2 missiles which exceeded the range permitted by the UN, were being destroyed.
• The IAEA had concluded that there was no Iraqi nuclear programme of any significance.
• The inspectors believed that they were making progress and expected to achieve more co‑operation from Iraq.
• The inspectors were preparing to step up their activities with U2 flights and interviews outside Iraq.
338. When the UK sought a further Security Council resolution in March 2003, the majority of the Council’s members were not persuaded that the inspections process, and the diplomatic efforts surrounding it, had reached the end of the road. They did not agree that the time had come to terminate inspections and resort to force. The UK went to war without the explicit authorisation which it had sought from the Security Council.
339. At the time of the Parliamentary vote of 18 March, diplomatic options had not been exhausted. The point had not been reached where military action was the last resort.
The predicted increase in the threat to the UK as a result of military action in Iraq
340. Mr Blair had been advised that an invasion of Iraq was expected to increase the threat to the UK and UK interests from Al Qaida and its affiliates.
341. Asked about the risk that attacking Iraq with cruise missiles would “act as a recruiting sergeant for a young generation throughout the Islamic and Arab world”, Mr Blair responded that:
“... what was shocking about 11 September was not just the slaughter of innocent people but the knowledge that, had the terrorists been able, there would have been not 3,000 innocent dead, but 30,000 or 300,000 ... America did not attack the Al Qaida terrorist group ... [it] attacked America. They did not need to be
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