Iraq inquiry turns eye on UN
Iraq invasion followed lack of consensus in UN
Find more Opinion Formers in this category:
Tony Blair was so effective in sealing his close relationship with George Bush after the September 11th terrorist attacks that being ambassador in Washington was a "heady and exhilarating" experience, Sir Christopher Meyer has said. |  |
Related Analysis and Comment
Gordon Brown's political instincts were working well when he attempted to keep the Iraq inquiry private. It took less than half an hour before uncomfortable truths began to emerge. |  |
Friday, 27, Nov 2009 10:59
By Alex Stevenson
Britain's former ambassador to the United Nations is appearing before the Iraq inquiry to discuss international attempts to authorise the ousting of Saddam Hussein by force.
Sir Jeremy Greenstock was at the heart of British diplomatic efforts to secure a second resolution on Iraq which would have directly authorised military action.
When France and Russia vetoed the proposal the US went ahead with the invasion anyway, arguing a previous resolution justified the move.
"Iraq produced the greatest divisions among the permanent five," Sir Jeremy told Sir John Chilcot's committee.
"Normally in New York the permanent five don't act as a body... on Iraq they gradually became an operational body because the security council, as 15, could not operate if the permanent members were divided.
"And therefore there were various geometric patterns... about how to deal with Iraq. These swirling discussions, negotiations, informal debates about what to do with Iraq were quite a complex picture."
At the heart of the problem was a scepticism among other members of the security council that Iraq represented the threat US president George Bush and prime minister Tony Blair thought it did.
"The US was at one end of the spectrum in regarding Iraq as a threat, and regarding the United Nations as unable to deal with a threat in a way which was required," Sir Jeremy added.
"The United Kingdom was sympathetic to that view, but wanted to see the UN working collectively on Iraq, as it regarded it as an international problem."