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Mr. President,
Mr. Secretary-General,
Ministers,
Ambassadors,
We are meeting here today a few hours
before the weapons sound. To exchange our convictions again in
observance of our respective commitments. But also to outline together
the paths that must allow us to recover the spirit of unity.
I wish to reiterate here that for
France war can only be the exception, and collective responsibility
the rule. Whatever our aversion for Saddam Hussein’s cruel regime,
that holds true for Iraq and for all the crises that we will have to
confront together.
* * *
1 – To Mr. Blix, who presented his
work program to us, and Mr. ElBaradei, who was represented today, I
want to say thank you for the sustained efforts and results achieved.
Their program is a reminder that there is still a clear and credible
prospect for disarming Iraq peacefully. It proposes and prioritizes
the tasks for such disarmament and presents a realistic timetable for
their implementation.
In doing so the report confirms what we
all know here: Yes, the inspections are producing tangible results.
Yes, they offer the prospect of effective disarmament through peaceful
means and in shorter time-frames.
The path we mapped out together in the
context of resolution 1441 still exists. In spite of the fact that it
has been interrupted today, we know that it will have to resume as
soon as possible.
The Council took note two days ago of
the Secretary-General’s decision to withdraw the inspectors and all
UN personnel from Iraq. The discharge of their mandates has
consequently been suspended. It will be necessary when the time comes
to complete our knowledge about Iraq’s programs and finish disarming
Iraq. The contribution of the inspectors will be decisive at that
time.
2 – Make no mistake about it: the
choice is indeed between two visions of the world.
To those who choose to use force and
think they can resolve the world’s complexity through swift and
preventive action, we offer in contrast determined action over time.
For today, to ensure our security, all the dimensions of the problem
must be taken into account: both the manifold crises and their many
facets, including cultural and religious. Nothing lasting in
international relations can be built therefore without dialogue and
respect for the other, without exigency and abiding by principles,
especially for the democracies that must set the example. To ignore
this is to run the risk of misunderstanding, radicalization and
spiraling violence. This is even more true in the Middle East, an area
of fractures and ancient conflicts where stability must be a major
objective for us.
To those who hope to eliminate the
dangers of proliferation through armed intervention in Iraq, I wish to
say that we regret that they are depriving themselves of a key tool
for other crises of the same type. The Iraq crisis allowed us craft an
instrument, through the inspections regime, which is unprecedented and
can serve as an example. Why, on this basis not envision establishing
an innovative, permanent structure, a disarmament body under the
United Nations?
To those who think that the scourge of
terrorism will be eradicated through the case of Iraq, we say they run
the risk of failing in their objectives. The outbreak of force in this
area which is so unstable can only exacerbate the tensions and
fractures on which the terrorists feed.
3 – Over and above our division, we
have a collective responsibility in the face of these threats, the
responsibility to recover the unity of the international community.
The United Nations must remain mobilized in Iraq to aid this
objective. Together, we have duties to assume in this perspective.
- First of all, to staunch the wounds
of war. As always, war brings with it its share of victims, suffering
and displaced people. So it is a matter of urgency to prepare now to
provide the requisite humanitarian assistance. This imperative must
prevail over our differences. The Secretary-General has already begun
to mobilize the various UN agencies to this end. France will take its
full part in the collective effort to assist the Iraqi people. The
oil-for-food program must be continued under the authority of the
Security Council with the necessary adjustments. We are waiting for
the Secretary-General’s proposals.
- Next, it is necessary to build peace.
No country by itself has the means to build Iraq’s future. In
particular, no state can claim the necessary legitimacy. It is from
the United Nations alone that the legal and moral authority can come
for such an undertaking. Two principles must guide our action: respect
for the unity and territorial integrity of Iraq; and the preservation
of its sovereignty.
- By the same token, it is for the
United Nations to set out the framework for the country’s economic
reconstruction. A framework that will have to affirm the two
complementary principles of transparency and development of the
country’s resources for the benefit of the Iraqis themselves.
4 – Our mobilization must also extend
to the other threats that we have to address together.
Given the very nature of these threats,
it is no longer possible today to address them in any old order. By
way of example, terrorism is fueled by organized crime networks; it
cleaves to the contours of lawless areas; it thrives on regional
crises; it garners support from the divisions in the world; it
utilizes all available resources, from the most rudimentary to the
most sophisticated, from the knife to the weapons of mass destruction
it is trying to acquire.
To deal with this reality, we must act
in a united way and on all fronts at the same time.
5 – So we must remain constantly
mobilized.
In this spirit France renews its call
for the heads of state and government to meet here in the Security
Council to respond to the major challenges confronting us.
Let us intensify our fight against
terrorism. Let us fight mercilessly against its networks with all the
economic, juridical and political weapons available to us.
Let us give new impetus to the fight
against the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. France has
already proposed that our heads of state and government meet on the
sidelines of the next General Assembly to define together the new
priorities for our action.
Let us recover the initiative in the
regional conflicts that are destabilizing entire regions. I am
thinking in particular of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. How much
suffering must the peoples of the region still endure for us to force
the doors to peace? Let us not resign ourselves to the irreparable.
In a world where the threat is
asymmetrical, where the weak defy the strong, the power of conviction,
the capacity to convince, the ability to sway opinion count as much as
the number of divisions. They do not replace them. But they are the
indispensable aids of a state’s influence.
6 – Faced with this new world, it is
imperative that the action of the international community should be
guided by principles.
First of all, respect for law. The
keystone of international order, it must apply in all circumstances,
but even more so when the gravest decision is to be made: to use
force. Only on this condition can force be legitimate. Only on this
condition can it restore order and peace.
Next, the defense of freedom and
justice. We must not compromise with what is central to our values. We
will be listened to and heeded only if we are inspired by the very
ideals of the United Nations.
Lastly, the spirit of dialogue and
tolerance. Never have the peoples of the world aspired so forcefully
to its respect. We must listen to their appeal.
* * *
As we see clearly, the United Nations
has never been so necessary. It is up to this body to
harness all the resolve to meet these
challenges. Because the United Nations is the place where
international rules and legitimacy are founded. Because it speaks in
the name of peoples.
In response to the clash of arms there
must be a single upwelling of the spirit of responsibility, voice and
gesture from the international community that is gathered here in New
York, in the Security Council.
This is in the interest of all: the
countries engaged in the conflict, the states and peoples in the
region, the international community as a whole. Confronted with a
world in crisis, we have a moral and political obligation to restore
the threads of hope and unity.
The judgment of future generations will
depend on our capacity to meet this great challenge—in furtherance
of our values, our common destiny and peace.
Thank you./.
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