Saddam mustn't be allowed to get away with it: Howard
"Letting Saddam Hussein get away with keeping weapons of mass destruction "makes it a more dangerous world for all of us", Prime Minister John Howard said today to explain why his government is supporting the US in the wake of the UN weapons inspectors highly critical report on Iraq."

Let's just recall what the report said: no WMDs were found; some chemical and biological material is believed unaccounted for; the nuclear weapons programme is believed not to have been restarted; further inspections over a period of months would lead to credible confirmation of this. Setting aside for the moment consideration of the doctrine of deterrence and the oil factor, on the basis of this report Howard supports terminating the inspections within weeks (ie, when the attack force is ready) and launching an aggressive, illegal war which could kill tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of people; destabilise the region with unpredictable consequences; and create lasting enmity and 'blowback' against the 'West' right across the Arab and Muslim worlds. It is monstrous. It is Bush, Blair and Howard that are a danger for the world, not Saddam.

Saddam mustn't be allowed to get away with it: Howard
"Letting Saddam Hussein get away with keeping weapons of mass destruction "makes it a more dangerous world for all of us", Prime Minister John Howard said today to explain why his government is supporting the US in the wake of the UN weapons inspectors highly critical report on Iraq."

Let's just recall what the report said: no WMDs were found; some chemical and biological material is believed unaccounted for; the nuclear weapons programme is believed not to have been restarted; further inspections over a period of months would lead to credible confirmation of this. Setting aside for the moment consideration of the doctrine of deterrence and the oil factor, on the basis of this report Howard supports terminating the inspections within weeks (ie, when the attack force is ready) and launching an aggressive, illegal war which could kill tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of people; destabilise the region with unpredictable consequences; and create lasting enmity and 'blowback' against the 'West' right across the Arab and Muslim worlds. It is monstrous. It is Bush, Blair and Howard that are a danger for the world, not Saddam.