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U.S. Explanation of Vote
Mr. President, this Resolution constitutes the world
community's demand that Iraq disclose and destroy
its weapons of mass destruction.
On
September 12, President Bush came to the General Assembly
seeking to begin to build an international consensus
to counter Iraq's persistent defiance of the United
Nations. Over a decade ago, after evicting Iraq from.
Kuwait, the Security Council determined that peace
and security in the Persian Gulf region required that
Iraq, verifiably, give up its weapons of mass destruction.
The Council reached that decision because of Iraq's
record of aggression against its neighbors and use
of chemical and biological weapons. For eleven years,
without success, we have tried a variety of ways,
including diplomacy, inspections, and economic sanctions
to obtain Iraqi compliance. By this Resolution, we
are now united in trying a different course. That
course is to send a clear message to Iraq insisting
on its disarmament in the area of weapons of mass
destruction and delivery systems, or face the consequences.
The
Resolution we have just adopted puts the conflict
between Iraq and the United Nations in context and
recalls the obligations on Iraq and the authorities
of member states to enforce them. It begins by reference
to Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in August 1990 and the
international community's response. It recalls that
the cease-fire ending the 1991 Gulf War was conditioned
on Iraq's disarmament with respect to nuclear, chemical,
and biological weapons, together with their support
infrastructures, ending its involvement in, and support
for, terrorism, and its accounting for, and restoration
of, foreign nationals and foreign property wrongfully
seized. In addition, the Council demanded that the
Iraqi Government stop oppressing the Iraqi people.
Iraq has ignored those obligations essential to peace
and security.
The
Resolution confirms what has been clear for years:
that Iraq has been and remains in violation of disarmament
obligations - "material breach" in lawyers'
language. The Council then decides to afford Iraq
a final opportunity to comply. As a means to that
end, the Resolution then establishes an enhanced,
strengthened inspection regime. The Resolution gives
UNMOVIC and the IAEA a new, powerful mandate. Its
core is immediate and unimpeded access to every site,
including Presidential or other Sensitive Sites, structure,
or vehicle they choose to inspect and equally immediate
and unimpeded access to people they wish to interview.
In other words: "anyone, anywhere, any time."
And, the Resolution gives UNMOVIC and the IAEA the
power to do their work properly and to ensure the
verifiable destruction of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction
and associated infrastructure and support programs.
Let
us be clear: the inspections will not work unless
the Iraqi regime cooperates fully with UNMOVIC and
the IAEA. We hope all member states now will press
Iraq to undertake that cooperation. This resolution
is designed to test Iraq's intentions: will it abandon
its weapons of mass destruction and its illicit missile
programs or continue its delays and defiance of the
entire world? Every act of Iraqi non-compliance will
be a serious matter, because it would tell us that
Iraq has no intention of disarming.
As
we have said on numerous occasions to Council members,
this Resolution contains no "hidden triggers"
and no "automaticity" with respect to the
use of force. If there is a further Iraqi breach,
reported to the Council by UNMOVIC, the IAEA, or a
member state, the matter will return to the Council
for discussions as required in paragraph 12. The Resolution
makes clear that any Iraqi failure to comply is unacceptable
and that Iraq must be disarmed. And one way or another,
Mr. President, Iraq will be disarmed. If the Security
Council fails to act decisively in the event of a
further Iraqi violation, this resolution does not
constrain any member state from acting to defend itself
against the threat posed by Iraq, or to enforce relevant
UN resolutions and protect world peace and security.
To
the Government of Iraq, our message is simple: non-compliance
no longer is an option.
To our colleagues on the Security Council, our message
is one of partnership: over seven weeks, we have built
international consensus on how to proceed towards
Iraq, and we have come together, recognizing that
our collective security is at stake and that we must
meet this challenge, as proposed by President Bush
on September 12.
To
the Secretary General, Dr. Blix, and Dr. ElBaradei:
We urge you to make full use of the tools given you
in this resolution, and we pledge our full support.
And we urge every member of the United Nations to
offer you all assistance possible.
To the governments and peoples of the Arab world,
including the people of Iraq: the purpose of this
Resolution is to open the way to a peaceful solution
of this issue. That is the intention and wish of my
government. When the Baghdad regime claims that the
United States is seeking to wage war on the Arab world,
nothing could be further from the truth. What we seek,
and what the Council seeks by this Resolution, is
the disarmament of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction.
We urge you to join us in our common effort to secure
that goal and assure peace and security in
the region.
President
Bush asked the Security Council to take on the challenge
posed by Iraq. He asked that it find Iraq in material
breach of its ongoing obligations, that it establish
an enhanced inspection regime as a means for obtaining
the disarmament of Iraq in the area of weapons of
mass destruction, and that it make clear that the
most serious consequences for Iraq would follow continued
defiance. This Resolution accomplishes each of these
purposes. Moreover, it does so as a result of intense
and open discussions with our Security Council partners.
In this process, different views about the shape and
language of a resolution were fused into the common
approach we and our British partners wanted to create.
This
Resolution affords Iraq a final opportunity. The Secretary
General said on September 12, "If Iraq's defiance
continues, the Security Council must face its responsibilities."
We concur with the wisdom of his remarks. Members
can rely on the United States to live up to its responsibilities
if the Iraq regime persists with its refusal to disarm.