International Situation

Part of the debate – in the Scottish Parliament at 12:02 pm on 13 March 2003.

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Photo of Ben Wallace Ben Wallace Conservative 12:02, 13 March 2003

The next few days will be vital to the future of Britain and how it decides to tackle Iraq. The Prime Minister will have to decide whether Britain's interest should come before the interests of the United Nations, China and Russia. This war is not about the diplomatic hoops that we might or might not have to jump through. It is not about giving a dictator another week, month or 17 or 24 days. It is not about oil conspiracies or anti-Palestinian plots. It is about 17 million people who live under a vicious regime that is comparable to Adolf Hitler's. It is about Britain's interest and the interests of peace and security in the middle east.

The SNP and the Liberal Democrats only want to go down the United Nations route in countering the threat. However, we should consider which countries we would have to go to, cap in hand, to get agreement in the UN Security Council. A recent Amnesty International report stated that hundreds of civilians have been killed, beaten and raped by Government forces in Guinea. The same Amnesty International report stated that human rights abuses recorded in Chechnya, in the Russian Federation, include arbitrary detention, torture and the disappearance of hundreds of people. In Angola, hundreds of unarmed civilians have been indiscriminately and deliberately killed by Government forces. Those countries are all represented on the UN Security Council. Are we saying that we are relying on their support, and that those countries will be in a position to judge right from wrong? I do not think so. Furthermore, despite France's opposition to the war, if any country epitomises unilateral foreign policy, it is France.