YouSaid · the spoken record

Straw

lines on the record: 88
first: 2001-11-12
most recent: 2005-10-31
sittings or episodes: 8
sources: un-security-council

Every line below is reproduced as it was said and linked to the record it came from. Nothing here is summarised or generated. Directory · Search · Corrections

“We said then that Iraq's proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and of long-range missiles and its non-compliance with Council resolutions were a threat to international peace and security. We all knew - and we all know - that they have had these weapons. It is why we said that Iraq had them, why all 5 permanent members and all 10 elected members said the same thing. We knew that the issue was not whether Iraq had them, but whether Iraq was actively cooperating to get rid of them. We emphasized that Iraq had been found guilty 12 years ago by the world community.”
2003-02-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4707 (2003) · source
“I speak on behalf of a very old country, founded in 1066 by the French. In opening, I would like to thank Mr. Blix and Mr. ElBaradei for their reports and to express my very great appreciation to them and to their inspection teams for their great efforts in the face of what I think is still very clear: Iraq's failure fully and actively to comply with resolution 1441 (2002). The issue before us could not be graver. It is about the authority of the United Nations and about the responsibility of the Security Council for international peace and security. Just three months ago, on 8 November, we unanimously adopted resolution 1441 (2002), submitted by the United States and ourselves.”
2003-02-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4707 (2003) · source
“Tyrants became emboldened, and then greater evils were unleashed. At each stage, good men said, "Wait. The evil is not big enough to challenge". Then, before their eyes, the evil became too big to challenge. We slipped slowly down a slope, never noticing how far we had gone until it was too late. We owe it to our history, as well as to our future, not to make the same mistake again.”
2003-02-05 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4701 (2003) · source
“If non-cooperation continues, the Council must meet its responsibilities. Our world faces many threats, from poverty and disease to civil war and terrorism. Working through this great institution, we have the capacity to tackle these challenges together. But if we are to do so, then the decisions we have to take must have a force beyond mere words. This is a moment of choice for Saddam and for the Iraqi regime. But it is also a moment of choice for this institution, the United Nations. The pre-war predecessor of the United Nations - the League of Nations - had the same fine ideals as the United Nations. But the League failed because it could not create actions from its words. It could not back diplomacy with a credible threat and, where necessary, the use of force, so small evils went unchecked.”
2003-02-05 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4701 (2003) · source
“Secretary Powell has today set out deeply worrying reports about the presence in Iraq of one of Osama bin Laden's lieutenants, Al- Zarqawi, and other members of Al Qaeda and their efforts to develop poisons. It defies the imagination that all of this could be going on without the knowledge of Saddam Hussain. The recent discovery of the poison ricin in London has underlined again that this is a threat which all of us face. Saddam must be left in no doubt as to the serious consequences and the serious situation which he now faces. The United Kingdom does not want war. What we want is for the United Nations system to be upheld. But the logic of resolution 1441 (2002) is inescapable. Time is now very short. The Council will have further reports from the inspectors on Friday week, 14 February.”
2003-02-05 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4701 (2003) · source
“Given what has to follow, and the difficult choice now facing us, it would be easy to turn a blind eye to the wording of resolution 1441 (2002) and hope for a change of heart by Iraq. Easy, but wrong, because if we did so we would be repeating the mistakes of the past 12 years and empowering a dictator who believes that his diseases and poison gases are essential weapons to suppress his own people and to threaten his neighbours, and that by defiance of the United Nations he can indefinitely hoodwink the world. Under the French presidency two weeks ago, we had a special meeting on the dangers of international terrorism - a meeting which I greatly welcomed - and the grave danger to the world of terrorists acquiring weapons of mass destruction through the connivance of rogue States.”
2003-02-05 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4701 (2003) · source
“When will Iraq account for the 6,500 bombs that could carry up to 1,000 tonnes of chemical agent? How will Iraq justify having a prohibited chemical precursor for mustard gas? And how will Iraq explain the concealment of nuclear documents and the development of a missile programme in clear contravention of United Nations resolutions? There is only one possible conclusion from all of this, which is that Iraq is in further material breach, as set out in United Nations Security Council resolution 1441 (2002). I believe that all colleagues here, all members, will share our deep sense of frustration that Iraq is choosing to Spurn this final opportunity to achieve a peaceful outcome.”
2003-02-05 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4701 (2003) · source
“These briefings have confirmed our worst fears, that Iraq has no intention of relinquishing its weapons of mass destruction, no intention of following the path of peaceful disarmament set out in Security Council resolution 1441 (2002). Instead of open admissions and transparency, we have a Charade, where a veneer of superficial cooperation masks wilful concealment, the extent of which has been devastatingly revealed this morning by Secretary Powell. In his report last week, Mr. Blix set out a number of instances in which Iraqi behaviour reveals a determination to avoid compliance. Why is Iraq refusing to allow the United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) to use a U-2 plane to conduct aerial imagery and surveillance operations?”
2003-02-05 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4701 (2003) · source
“The declaration also has obvious omissions, not least in a failure to explain what has happened to the large quantities of chemical and biological weapons materiel and munitions unaccounted for by United Nations weapons inspectors in 1998. And there is no admission of Iraq's extensive efforts to develop weapons of mass destruction since the last round of United Nations Special Commission (UNSCOM) inspections ended in December 1998. Paragraph 4 goes on to set a second test for a further material breach - namely, a "failure by Iraq at any time to comply with, and cooperate fully in the implementation of" resolution 1441 (2002). Following the presentation by the inspectors last week, and today's briefing by Secretary Powell, it is clear that Iraq has failed this test.”
2003-02-05 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4701 (2003) · source
“Paragraph 1 of resolution 1441 (2002) said that Saddam was and remained in "material breach" of Security Council resolutions. Paragraph 4 of that same resolution then set two clear tests for a further material breach by Iraq. The first test was that Iraq must not make "false statements" or "omissions" in its declaration. But the Iraqi document submitted to us on 7 December, as we have heard from Secretary Powell, was long on repetition but short on fact. It was not full, nor accurate, nor complete. By anyone's definition, it was a "false statement". Its central premise - that Iraq possesses no weapons of mass destruction - is a lie. This outright lie was repeated yesterday on television by Saddam Hussain.”
2003-02-05 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4701 (2003) · source
“But the truth is - and we all know this - without that full and active cooperation, however strong the inspectors' powers, however good the inspectors, inspections in a country as huge as Iraq could never be sure of finding all Iraqi weapons of mass destruction. Sadly, the inspectors' reports last week, and Secretary Powell's presentation today, can leave us under no illusions about Saddam Hussain's response. Saddam Hussain holds United Nations Security Council resolution 1441 (2002) in the same contempt as all previous resolutions in respect of Iraq. Let us reflect on what that means: Saddam is defying every one of us, every nation here represented. He questions our resolve and is gambling that we will lose our nerve rather than enforce our will.”
2003-02-05 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4701 (2003) · source
“After years of Iraqi deception, when resolutions were consistently flouted, resolution 1441 (2002) was a powerful reminder of the importance of international law and of the authority of the Security Council itself. United and determined, we gave Iraq a final opportunity to rid itself of its weapons of mass terror, of gases which can poison thousands in one go; of bacilli and viruses like anthrax and smallpox, which can disable and kill by the tens of thousands; of the means to make nuclear weapons, which can kill by the million. By resolution 1441 (2002), we strengthened inspections massively. The only missing ingredient was full Iraqi compliance - immediate, full and active cooperation.”
2003-02-05 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4701 (2003) · source
“May I, as the Foreign Minister of China has done, congratulate Germany on taking over the presidency of the Security Council and congratulate you personally on assuming the Chair this morning. We have just heard a most powerful and authoritative case against the Iraqi regime set out by United States Secretary of State Powell. The international community owes him its thanks for laying bare the deceit practised by the regime of Saddam Hussain - and worse, the very great danger which that regime represents. Three months ago we united to send Iraq an uncompromising message: cooperate fully with weapons inspectors, or face disarmament by force.”
2003-02-05 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4701 (2003) · source
“There, a two-State solution is the only just response, as the Council has determined. Such an outcome would be a vindication of the founding ideal of the United Nations that reconciliation is possible between all nations and all faiths. People of my generation will recognize that at times, over the past 50 years, the ideals of the United Nations have seemed sometimes beyond reach. The vile hostility of the cold war stood in stark contrast to the noble principles of the United Nations Charter. Yet the ideal of the United Nations survives. It prevailed through the era of super-Power confrontation, and, with our collective effort, it will prevail over the twin threats of terrorism and weapons of mass destruction which haunt the world today.”
2003-01-20 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4688 (2003) · source
“Let us also remember that almost every one of the hundreds of thousands of people killed by Saddam Hussain have been Muslim, and that, in contrast, in the four international conflicts of the past 12 years - the Gulf, Bosnia, Kosovo and Afghanistan - it happens to have been innocent Muslims who have been saved by international military action. Fifthly, we must, of course, work relentlessly to eliminate the environment in which terrorism breeds. This can be done by firm security action and a political agenda. In Northern Ireland and in Sri Lanka, we see the hope which can be built after decades of killing and hatred. We must not give up in other theatres, least of all in the Israel-Palestine conflict. Only the terrorists will rejoice if grief at the endless killings gives way to total despair.”
2003-01-20 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4688 (2003) · source
“He must either resolve this crisis peacefully, by active compliance with his Security Council obligations and full cooperation with inspectors, or face the serious consequences - the use of force - which the Council warned would follow when it adopted resolution 1441 (2002). Fourthly, we have absolutely and emphatically to reject the lie that the action of the international community in fighting terrorism and rogue States is anti-Muslim. It is not. It is pro-Muslim, as well as pro- Christian, pro-Buddhist, pro-Jew, pro-Hindu, pro- Sikh - pro-humanity. Down the ages, tyrants and terrorists alike have sought justification for their ends by claiming that they have God on their side. Today is no different. Let us remember this: Al Qaeda and the Taliban murdered thousands of Muslims in Afghanistan well before 11 September.”
2003-01-20 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4688 (2003) · source
“If they can get their hands on nerve gases, killer viruses or nuclear bombs, they will use them. Thirdly, action to stop rogue States' proliferation is as urgent as action to stop terrorism. Wherever we can, we should use diplomatic means to get proliferators to comply, as we are with North Korea, patiently. But there has to come a moment when our patience must run out, and we are now near that point with Iraq. Well before Security Council resolution 1441 (2002) was adopted, on 8 November last year, Saddam Hussein was already in breach, not of one or two, but of 23 mandatory obligations in nine separate Security Council resolutions stretching back over 12 years. The moment of choice for Saddam Hussain is close.”
2003-01-20 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4688 (2003) · source
“As Sir Jeremy Greenstock has just laid out, the momentum from the Counter-Terrorism Committee has to be sustained. As a former Interior Minister, allow me to say this. The key challenge is not to set up new institutions or figureheads, but to ensure that existing law- enforcement arrangements work better. Secondly, we have to expose the connection between the terrorists who respect no rules and the States which respect no rules either. It is the leaders of rogue States who set the example, brutalize their people, celebrate violence, provide a haven for terrorists to operate, and - worse than that - through their chemical, biological and nuclear weapons, provide a tempting arsenal for terrorists to use. The world must be in no doubt: if terrorists can, they will.”
2003-01-20 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4688 (2003) · source
“Some call this international terrorism. That does not make it distant from our own lives, but immediate in each of our nations, down our street or the next. At least 13 of the 15 countries represented here in the Security Council have seen the killing of their innocent citizens by terrorists. In the United Kingdom, we have just lost a brave police officer, killed in the course of a terrorist-related arrest - three children now without a dad, a devoted wife with no husband. We have to unite as never before in the face of this threat and act, I suggest, in five key ways. First, we must ensure that the duties imposed by the United Nations counter-terrorism law - Security Council resolution 1373 (2001) - are vigorously enforced in every Member State. We have to expose the laggards and confront every danger effectively.”
2003-01-20 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4688 (2003) · source
“I greatly welcome the initiative of the French presidency in calling this ministerial meeting. I would like to thank His Excellency the Secretary-General for his address and to express my personal thanks to Sir Jeremy Greenstock for all his work while chairing the Counter-Terrorism Committee. I would also like to thank members of the Council for the continuing, if I may say so, the very well-placed confidence which they have shown in him throughout his period of office. The cold war was dangerous and at times frightening, but it had some certainties and ground rules. Today's terrorists, however, respect no rules and no one's life - not others' lives, not even their own. They respect no values and no religion. They are criminals cloaked in a cause - psychopathic killers who define themselves by the terror which they inflict on others.”
2003-01-20 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4688 (2003) · source
“We are certainly also very ready to provide ideas that we have to other countries that host members of the Afghan diaspora so that we can get a coordinated support programme for such transfers of those skilled people back to Afghanistan. My last point is that we also must keep the focus on the fight against international terrorism. The Al Qaeda organization is down, but it may well not be out. We do have to ensure that they are wholly defeated. There is nothing that can directly assuage the suffering of those who lost loved ones on 11 September, nor of those innocents who have suffered so grievously over the years at the hands of the Taliban. But the news today, and I hope our decisions this week and the action by the United Nations and the international community, should provide them with some much- needed relief.”
2001-11-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4414 (2001) · source
“Afghanistan is a poor country economically - one of the poorest in the world - but it is not poor in terms of the intellectual abilities and skills of its people. That is shown by the way in which many parts of Afghanistan have been the cradle of our world civilization. There are many highly skilled Afghans around the world. There are many in the United Kingdom. I wish to say that in the United Kingdom we are now taking steps to work out programmes to enable those Afghans resident in the United Kingdom who have the necessary skills and wish to go back to Afghanistan to play a part in the reconstruction of that country immediately to do so.”
2001-11-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4414 (2001) · source
“Fourthly, I think the Council itself needs to take early action to address the longer-term security and stability of the region and to ensure the right international military and security presence to achieve that f again, taking account not only of what Ambassador Brahimi said were the preferred options, which obviously include an all-Afghan security force, but also the reality that, with the best will in the world, that force may take some time to assemble, train and organize. The last point I wanted to make in terms of immediate action was to pick up on what Ambassador Brahimi said about the need to get skilled Afghans who are in the immediate region - in Iran and Pakistan as well as in the much wider diaspora - and facilitate their transfer into Afghanistan.”
2001-11-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4414 (2001) · source
“Above all, so are the expectations of the Afghan people and the world that we meet the challenge of humanitarian aid as vigorously as the partners in the coalition have met the prior challenge of military action. It is important that agencies see that the provision of relief, recovery and reconstruction are part ofa single plan, not separate. Thirdly, we have to get a United Nations presence on the ground in Kabul, as soon as physically possible, to provide the eyes and ears of the international community and to start the process of creating civil administration. That of course involves considerations of their security, and that of the territory generally, in which the military coalition and other countries have an important interim role to play.”
2001-11-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4414 (2001) · source
“That is an essential first step to the establishment of a broad-based Government under United Nations auspices. I was very pleased and interested to hear from Ambassador Brahimi about the detailed steps that he proposes should be taken to get that civil administration and broad-based Government established. Secondly, we have to get humanitarian aid into Afghanistan in greater measure for those who have suffered and starved under the Taliban rule in that country. Thanks to the fall of Mazar-e-Sharif, in the north, and now Kabul, the opportunities for humanitarian relief are significantly greater than existed even a week or so ago, but so are the challenges.”
2001-11-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4414 (2001) · source
“And, fourthly, in order that that should be achieved, the international community has to be committed to Afghanistan for the long term because, to pick up the point made just a moment ago by Ambassador Brahimi, I think the Afghans are right to be very angry that the international community and key countries in the international community have in the past gone into Afghanistan and then walked away. The consequences of that were left with the Afghan people, and not principally with the countries that walked off. There are, I believe, four immediate points that we have to focus on in the Council today. First, there needs to be a very early gathering of the internal Afghan parties, as Ambassador Brahimi has suggested. Certainly, we in the United Kingdom stand ready to provide whatever assistance we can to assist with that process.”
2001-11-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4414 (2001) · source
“I think that we in the international community have particular responsibilities in respect of two countries which have borne the brunt of refugees from Afghanistan - namely Iran and Pakistan - and I certainly welcome the very constructive approach which has been adopted to Afghanistan by the Presidents of both Iran and of Pakistan. Thirdly, we have accepted that, within that framework of benign but active support from the international community, it is for the Afghans themselves to decide exactly how they deliver that broad-based, representative, multi-ethnic Government.”
2001-11-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4414 (2001) · source
“I think that, in the short space of time since the original Security Council resolutions, we have established a very clear international consensus about the four essential conditions for that stability, peace and prosperity in Afghanistan. First, these arrangements have to be achieved under the auspices of the United Nations. Secondly - to pick up a phrase used by the Secretary-General in his address - we have to ensure the end of interference by external forces, by the countries in the region and by others with bigger aspirations. But alongside that end to interference, we have to see the beginning of sustained, agreed and cooperative support from the international community for the new administration and the new government of Afghanistan.”
2001-11-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4414 (2001) · source
“The world will be watching for restraint by the Northern Alliance, not only hoping but also monitoring its behaviour, because here is an opportunity for the Northern Alliance and for the other non-Taliban parties to establish a broad-based government which meets the central tenets of the United Nations and, in doing so, ensures the readmission of Afghanistan into the community of nations. But the responsibility of ensuring that this can happen depends on the deeds, and not just on the words, of those parties that have now taken Kabul. When this conflict began, the Secretary-General showed great wisdom in appointing Ambassador Brahimi and in sponsoring intensive discussions in the international community about the requirements for stability and security once this conflict had finished.”
2001-11-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4414 (2001) · source
“The news was dramatic, but I also believe the news overnight was a great relief, because the capital, Kabul - the largest city - is of huge symbolic importance, and the fact that it has fallen with relatively little bloodshed is important and certainly beyond some of the possibilities that existed before the military coalition - before this happened. It is also welcome that this has happened before the onset of winter. But I say, too - and I say this particularly to representatives of the Northern Alliance - that the whole world expects higher and better behaviour from those who are now inside Kabul than happened before.”
2001-11-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4414 (2001) · source
“The Taliban also caused untold suffering to the people of Afghanistan, denying women basic rights and basic education; executing women in public; sponsoring the world's drug trade; ensuring that 90 per cent of the heroin on the streets of Europe came from that country; and also, by their appalling mismanagement of that country, leading millions to flee it. It is worth remembering that almost all of the millions of refugees who are collected at, or just outside, the borders of Afghanistan or who have fled further afield were refugees before 11 September. The Taliban are now on the run. With their flight, the world, and particularly Afghanistan, has taken a step towards becoming a safer and a better place. But, as the Secretary-General and Ambassador Brahimi have warned, this, of course, is by no means over.”
2001-11-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4414 (2001) · source
“I would first like to begin by expressing my appreciation for the remarks made this morning by the Secretary-General and by Ambassador Brahimi, and to say how we salute their indefatigable efforts in pursuit of peace and stability in Afghanistan, particularly over the period since ll September. This morning's news of the retreat of the Taliban from the capital, Kabul, is justification itself for the military strategy which has been pursued. The Taliban placed themselves at the heart of the evil Al Qaeda network. They were both its protectors and its apologists.”
2001-11-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4414 (2001) · source
“The message that must go from here is that we are all united in our resolve and our actions to defeat terrorism. In that regard, the news from the north of Afghanistan of military advances is welcome. It can only be the first step, if an essential one, to the overall liberation of Afghanistan, to the establishment there of a broad-based, representative and multi-ethnic Government, and to our goal of a world free from the twin scourges of terrorism and of war.”
2001-11-12 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4413 (2001) · source
“The overall aim of these changes is to reinforce the civil liberties that really matter - like the right to life itself and the right to live without the fear of the terrorist bomb or the terrorist bullet. We are also cutting back on the opportunities for terrorist suspects to abuse or to exploit the freedoms of the United Kingdom, freedoms which the same terrorists themselves seek to destroy. The United Kingdom has ratified the 12 existing United Nations conventions, and we urge others to accelerate their work to do so. We will continue to work to complete the comprehensive convention on terrorism. It is the View of the United Kingdom that we have actively to confront terrorism, the financing of terrorism, the drugs trade of terrorists and the States which harbour terrorists.”
2001-11-12 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4413 (2001) · source
“The declaration which the Security Council will adopt today sets out the unequivocal condemnation of all acts of terrorism. Council resolution 1373 (2001) was an historic event: the first resolution to impose obligations on all States to respond to the global threat of terrorism. Its implementation has to be a priority for every Member of the United Nations in collaboration with, and assisted by, this Council's Counter-Terrorism Committee. I am glad to recall that in the year 2000, when I had the privilege of being the United Kingdom's Home Secretary, we were able significantly to strengthen our anti-terrorism laws, and we are now taking further measures fully to meet the requirements of resolution 1373 (2001). Some of these new measures are before the United Kingdom Parliament this week.”
2001-11-12 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4413 (2001) · source
“We should never forget that a third of the nations of the world lost their own nationals in that one single terrorist act. Terrorism is not new in the world, and, sadly, very far from new in the United Kingdom, where over the last 30 years we have lost more than 3,000 of our people as Victims of terrorist acts. But on 11 September the world saw terrorism on an unprecedented, horrifying scale. My Government, the British Government, has a simple message for terrorists and those who support terrorism: terrorism, the deliberate targeting of innocent people for political ends, is criminal, and there is no political, religious or ideological cause which can possibly justify the use of such indiscriminate violence. I am glad to say that the international resolve is strong.”
2001-11-12 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4413 (2001) · source
“Yesterday at 11 a.m., 11 November, people in the United Kingdom stopped doing what they were doing for two minutes to remember those servicemen and women who have been killed in the course of duty, fighting to uphold the values of human dignity, human rights and freedom that we all hold dear. They do this every year. In the last 50 years, there has been only one year when no British citizen has died in this cause. The United Nations has its roll of honour as well - alas, too long - of citizens of the world community who have sacrificed their lives for the cause of peace and for the principles of this United Nations. As we all know, 11 November had a new meaning this year - exactly two months since thousands of innocent people lost their lives in the heinous terrorist attacks on New York and on Washington.”
2001-11-12 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4413 (2001) · source
“Like other colleagues, I would like to express my profound sorrow at the news early this morning of the aeroplane crash in this city of New York and to offer the sincere condolences of the Government of the United Kingdom to the loved ones of the victims, to the people of New York and, through you, Secretary Powell, to the Government and people of the United States. Any such loss of life happening at any time in any country would be terrible, but I believe that we all understand that the news of this disaster, whatever its cause, at this time was bound to be doubly traumatic for the residents of New York City and for the people of the United States as a whole. Mr. President, may I express my thanks for you to calling this timely meeting and for your chairmanship of the meeting.”
2001-11-12 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4413 (2001) · source