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Hoon: 'No hope' without war threat
KUWAIT CITY, Kuwait (CNN) -- British Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon has warned of the dangers of delaying military action against Iraq if Baghdad fails to comply with U.N. resolutions requiring disarmament. "We could be condemned on a massive scale for taking an abdication of responsibility," Hoon said on Monday during a three-day visit to key allies in the Gulf region. U.S. diplomats tell CNN a second proposed U.N. resolution will be presented by the U.S. and UK on Monday. UK Foreign Secretary Jack Straw told Reuters: "It will spell out that we are approaching the end of the final opportunity that Saddam Hussein was given to completely disarm in substance as well as process." "Because we want international consensus...we will be allowing a good period of up to two weeks, maybe a little more, before we ask for a decision." Hoon spoke as U.S. officials were trying to lay the groundwork for passage of the second U.N. resolution that would declare Iraq to be flouting its obligation to disarm. (Full story) He said he could not confirm published reports that German intelligence agents had detected Iraqi Ababil-100 missiles deployed along the border with Kuwait. Such a deployment would be in violation of U.N. resolutions, and Hoon said the reports were "of concern." Speaking to reporters before beginning a tour to rally British troops in Kuwait, Hoon said Iraqi President Saddam Hussein "represents a major threat to world peace" because of the added threat of terrorism. "People say Saddam may be bad but question whether he threatens us directly. I would remind them of these facts: perhaps it may never happen but history certainly teaches us differently. "And the consequences of being wrong would be catastrophic. "The world has changed even if he has not ... (and) that makes him more of a threat. It is in the light of September 11 that Saddam's hidden arsenal must be judged," Hoon said. "Others would be only too pleased to be given access to them. The fear of terrorists gaining access is worrying to all of us. "We know there are people who would use it, who want to get their hands on it. Can we leave it up to the good will of Saddam Hussein to make sure they don't?" Hoon said there was still time for the Iraq crisis to be resolved peacefully through the United Nations. "The choice of what happens next remains with Baghdad and Saddam Hussein. The consequence of his failing to abide (by U.N. resolutions) is military action. Without that threat there is no hope," Hoon said. "To do nothing, to give Saddam Hussein time without end, as he wishes, would be easier than taking action, certainly." But, Hoon said, Saddam was a "brutal, callous and unpredictable" man who believes he can maintain his power in the region only by maintaining an arsenal of weapons of mass destruction and a long-range capability to deliver it. The dictator also is striving to add a nuclear capacity to strengthen his hand, Hoon said. "Let us remember the annihilation of thousands of his own people using nerve agents, the hundreds of thousands who have died in the two wars that he has already started, the millions who suffer daily thanks to his cold-hearted manipulation of the United Nations food programme. "Remembering these things, can any of us honestly say that left unchecked he would never use these weapons against our cities and against our people? "The thought of what could happen if just a tiny fraction of nerve agents, as little as a test tube of VX, for example, was obtained by a terrorist group or placed in a warhead by Saddam simply does not bear imagining." Speaking of opponents to war, Hoon said: "For some, conflict of any sort will never be excusable. "I have respect for those who hold such firm moral positions. But I believe that history has sadly proved them comprehensively wrong." In the past, he said, in places like Sierra Leone and Kosovo, British forces took action "against a background of concerned voices" but history has shown those decisions were the correct ones. Hoon said there is no rush to war in Iraq, "but if conflict remains the only way to disarm Saddam Hussein, we are ready." "The British government believes we must be resolved to disarming Saddam Hussein. It must be done before the terror weapons he possesses can be used by Saddam himself or by others with his blessing. We must steel ourselves to the consequences of that resolve and send a clear message to Saddam Hussein: You cannot win. You can only comply and disarm or be defeated. The choice is entirely yours." In a separate interview with the BBC, Hoon said: "The timing of this is important in the sense that it is now almost six months since (U.S.) President (George W.) Bush's speech to the U.N., it is almost four months since resolution 1441 was passed unanimously by the Security Council. "It seems to me that that is long enough for the international community to make a judgment about whether Saddam Hussein is properly disarming and whether he is cooperating with the international community as 1441 requires."
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