Page:The Report of the Iraq Inquiry - Executive Summary.pdf/22

The Report of the Iraq Inquiry 112. The Government dossier on Iraq was published on 24 September. It was designed to "make the case" and secure Parliamentary (and public) support for the Government's policy that action was urgently required to secure Iraq's disarmament.

113. In his statement to Parliament on 24 September and in his answers to subsequent questions, Mr Blair presented Iraq's past, current and potential future capabilities as evidence of the severity of the potential threat from Iraq's weapons of mass destruction. He said that at some point in the future that threat would become a reality.

114. Mr Blair wrote his statement to the House of Commons himself and chose the arguments to make clear his perception of the threat and why he believed that there was an "overwhelming" case for action to disarm Iraq.

115. Addressing the question of why Saddam Hussein had decided in mid‑September, but not before, to admit the weapons inspectors, Mr Blair stated that the answer was in the dossier, and it was because:

116. Mr Blair posed, and addressed, three questions: "Why Saddam?"; "Why now?"; and "Why should Britain care?"

117. On the question "Why Saddam?", Mr Blair said that two things about Saddam Hussein stood out: "He had used these weapons in Iraq" and thousands had died, and he had used them during the war with Iran "in which one million people died"; and the regime had "no moderate elements to appeal to".

118. On the question "Why now?", Mr Blair stated:

Rh