Statement by Rhodri Glyn Thomas AM and
Adam Price MP (Carmarthen East and Dinefwr)

Ceredigion MP Simon Thomas has confirmed that he will vote against war in the crucial Commons vote.
Read his full statement here.

 

By the time this column appears in our local papers, this country will probably be at war with Iraq. At the forefront of our minds must be the young men and women from Carmarthenshire who will be putting their lives on the line on behalf of this government's foreign policy aims. We all pray that our young people will return home safely. The best support we can give them as Elected Members is to press for an immediate end to this conflict so that they can return home as soon as possible.

However this support does not extend to the government's policies. It is clear that the war with Iraq is illegal, unnecessary and immoral. Illegal as resolution 1441 does not authorise war. Resolution 1441 would quite simply not have been passed had it sanctioned military conflict in any way. Following their inability to persuade the UN Security Council to support a second UN resolution, the UK and US have blamed France for the breakdown in diplomacy. This argument is deeply flawed, and the propaganda of Tony Blair and George Bush cannot hide the fact that other members of the UN Security Council refuse to support their call to arms. This conflict will totally undermine the credibility of international law and the United Nations, which has served as the cornerstone of international politics since the end of the Second World War. Tony Blair claims this war is about ensuring peace and security, but lasting peace and security can only be achieved via the mechanisms of international law.

The fact of the matter is that other members of the UN Security Council refuse to be bullied by the US and UK into war, and have stood firm in their belief that this crisis could be resolved by diplomacy. The recent evidence of Iraqi co-operation proves that the weapons inspections were working. The fact that the inspectors have not found a 'smoking gun' belittles the government's argument that Iraq is a threat to our security. In the end this war is unnecessary.

The war is also immoral. Iraq is a third world country crippled by over two decades of conflict and twelve years of sanctions. Over half of the population are children. Child mortality rates are frightening. Within the first 48 hours of this conflict our military inform us that over 300 missiles and targeted bombs will be launched at Iraq. High altitude B52 bombers will also quite literally carpet bomb large parts of the country. Aid agencies estimate that up to half a million Iraqis will be killed during this conflict (400,000 were killed in the 1991 war), with an estimated million being made refugees. You can not bomb people into democracy, this will not be a war to end terrorism but to fuel it.

If there are repercussions in terms of war crimes following this conflict, it shouldn't be our soldiers that are hauled before the international criminal court, but rather the Prime Minister and his cabinet colleagues. They are the ones that have failed to show the moral courage to fight against US unilateralism. New Labour promised an ethical foreign policy on gaining power in 1997. This sorry episode proves this government are tied to the cause of American imperialism.

As elected Members we have consulted widely with our constituents on this issue. We have received hundreds of letters and have held two public meetings. We are convinced that our principled stance is supported by the vast majority of the population. We will be calling on the government for an immediate cease fire and an immediate withdrawal and a return to the processes of international law.

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