IRAQ: The current regime in Iraq was unacceptable and could not be allowed to remain in power, President Bush's special envoy, Ambassador Richard Haass, said in Dublin yesterday. But he told journalists the US would only take action in consultation with other governments.
Mr Haass met the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Cowen, for an hour, prior to the Minister's departure for the US where he is taking part in commemorative events for September 11th as well as addressing the UN General Assembly. They discussed a wide range of issues, including Northern Ireland, Iraq, the Middle East conflict, Afghanistan, the International Criminal Court and the Nice referendum.
The Ambassador, who is President Bush's special adviser on Northern Ireland, was later due to meet the Taoiseach and the Minister for Justice. Today he flies to London where he will meet the Northern Secretary, Dr Reid. Later in the week, he will be in Belfast for meetings with political and civic leaders.
On his meeting with Mr Cowen, he said: "What I communicated was the sense in Washington about the breadth and depth of the commitment to bringing about a change of regime in Iraq, the very strong sense that the current situation was unacceptable and could not be allowed to linger.
"We simply can't live with a situation where Saddam Hussein possesses certain weapons of mass destruction, in particular chemical and biological weapons, as well as a number of missiles that have a range beyond what he is allowed under the resolution which brought a ceasefire to the Gulf War, Security Council Resolution 687.
"In addition, there is a good deal of evidence of his efforts to acquire the components and elements of a nuclear weapons capability." While it was hard to know exactly how far advanced Iraq was in this respect, "our tolerance for this uncertainty is understandably low".
They also discussed the Government's view that there should be no US military campaign in Iraq without UN approval. "The Irish Government is not unique in that view," Mr Haass said. "It is a view we have heard from other friends and allies around the world."
The US administration had already made it clear that "whatever it is that we ultimately do will only be done in consultation with others". He added: "What is still to be decided on is the specific question of what, if any, relationship what we do in Iraq will have to the UN. Obviously, anything we might do would be pursuant to the existing UN resolutions which Saddam Hussein has systematically and regularly violated over the years."
Mr Haass would not specify, in advance of President Bush's speech tomorrow, what precise action the US might take and when it might be taken. He was also reluctant to speculate about Ireland's potential role in the situation as a member of the UN Security Council. "It is my sense - I will let the Irish Government speak for itself - that there is an appreciation of the danger in the current situation. There is obviously also a desire here that the UN be involved."
On the Northern Ireland situation, Mr Haass was asked about his attitude to the suggestion of appointing a ceasefire monitor: "I want to get a better sense of how the political leaders in Northern Ireland feel about it, the latest thinking of the British and Irish Governments about it, before I come to any hard conclusion myself. In all of these things, my question is very simple: Will it help?"