BRITAIN: The British Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair, has told his armed forces to prepare for war with Iraq. Mr Blair's stark and bleak Christmas message came in a broadcast to British service personnel around the world conveying the clearest signal that military conflict is drawing ever-closer.
While pledging continuing British co-operation with Mr Hans Blix's team of UN weapons inspectors, Mr Blair declared himself "deeply sceptical" about Iraq's insistence that it holds no weapons of mass destruction, and said it was vital to have troops in place in the region to ensure "that we are able to undertake this mission if it falls to us to do so".
Senior Labour MPs opposed to war have no doubt that the Blair government stands ready to back US action, with or without the explicit approval of the UN. Father of the Commons, Mr Tam Dalyell, yesterday accused Mr Blair and Foreign Secretary Mr Jack Straw of going along with "an American agenda and an extreme agenda".
In his message to the armed forces, Mr Blair said the UK and US would go back to the UN if Saddam Hussein was found in breach of the Security Council resolution.
At the same time he again invoked what is known as "the Kosovo option" in his call to imminent arms.
Mr Blair said the war against terrorism, the attacks on Slobodan Milosevic's forces, and the threat posed by Saddam showed that the capacity to use force was key to trying to make the world a more secure and peaceful place.
"Sometimes the best way of avoiding war is to be prepared for war if you have to have it," said the Prime Minister.
Apologising to service personnel for the continued state of uncertainty, Mr Blair said: "I'm afraid it's inevitable because at the moment we simply don't know whether Iraq will be found in breach of the United Nations resolution."
However, if a breach was determined they would go back to the Security Council and at that stage "will be prepared to use force in order to ensure that they [the Iraqis] are disarmed of all chemical, biological or potentially nuclear weapons".
With a flotilla headed by the Ark Royal already destined for the Gulf, the Ministry of Defence is chartering cargo ships to lift equipment and an estimated 30,000 troops to the region, while the US has requested the assistance of some 2,000 German troops to guard American bases from the end of next month.
In his message Mr Blair praised the services for their performance in the past year, from conflict and peace-keeping in Afghanistan to fire-fighting at home. But he warned: "I am afraid the expectation is there will be a lot more to do in the upcoming year."
In language which echoed his comments when sending troops to Afghanistan, Mr Blair said of the decision to commit to action: "These are the hardest decisions because you are aware that you are putting people's lives at risk, and that's why we should never undertake conflict unless we have exhausted all other options and possibilities."
During a visit to Hartlepool, Mr Blair was asked about Mr Blix's charge that the US and UK were not providing his team with the necessary intelligence relating to sites believed to contains weapons of mass destruction.
Mr Blair said they would give the inspectors "every help we can".
However, he was "deeply sceptical" about Iraq's submission to the UN.
"They have got to make sure weapons of mass destruction material can be destroyed and if they do that then war is avoided. If they do not then we will have to make sure they are stopped."