Australia's Prime Minister John Howard told Thursday the public it was in the nation's interest to disarm Iraq by force before its weapons of mass destruction fall into the hands of terrorists or other "rogue states".
"If the world fails to deal once and for all with the problem of Iraq and its possesion of weapons of mass destruction, it will have given a green light to the further proliferation of these weapons," Howard said in a nationally televised address.
"If international terrorists ever get their hands on weapons of mass destruction, that will, in my very passionate belief and argument, constitute a direct, undeniable and lethal threat to Australia and its people," he said.
Howard repeatedly referred to Osama bin Laden and his al-Qaeda group's stated desire to obtain weapons of mass destruction as a reason to disarm Iraq by force if need be.
But he was unable to provide proof linking al Qaeda with Baghdad.
"If you wait for that kind of proof, you know, it's virtually Pearl Harbour," he stated.
Howard has deployed 2,000 Australian troops as part of the massive US and British military buildup around Iraq. But, he stopped short of formally committing his troops to a US-led invasion, saying he wanted first to see if the UN Security Council would endorse military action in a vote expected over the weekend.
If action is not taken now, he said, "Saddam Hussein would know that he had won at the very least a major reprieve and his incentive to cooperate in the future would be completely non-existent."
Howard also brushed aside as "plainly unreaslistic" demands led by France that peaceful efforts to disarm Iraq be given more time.
Howard's willingness to go to war without UN backing has led to the embarrassing resignation this week of a senior government intelligence analyst who called his pro-war policy "dumb" and "abhorrent".
Howard was forced to move Thursday's speech from the National Press Club in Canberra to the more secure Parliament building nearby due to a protest by some 300 anti-war demonstrators outside. (Albawaba.com)
© 2003 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
