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British MPs revolt against Blair's Iraq policy

A backbench revolt by 64 members of Parliament, many of them from the ruling British Labor Party, has taken the gloss off Prime Minister Tony Blair's threat to take on Iraqi President Saddam Hussein unless he allows United Nations inspectors to dismantle his weapons of mass destruction.

The revolt in the House of Commons was larger than expected, prompting a rebel MP to declare, 'This 64 is the number of out and out opponents of military action who were prepared to press the House to divide on a technical vote. All the momentum is with the opponents of war. The government's hope that it could manipulate opinion has been shattered.'

Against this, government insiders insisted Blair has managed to win the parliamentary support needed for military action. A senior minister who requested anonymity told rediff.com, "The vast majority of the House and the Labor Party in particular is with the prime minister on this issue."

The parliamentary arguments follow the publication of Blair's dossier of evidence against Saddam. Prepared by Britain's Joint Intelligence Committee, it analyzes Saddam's obsession with weapons of mass destruction.

In a speech to the emergency session of the House of Commons, Blair described Saddam's weapons as 'active, detailed and growing.' His dossier explains that Saddam's military program is extremely well funded and supported by upwards of $2 billion earned from illegal oil sales last year. It also says he has continued to produce chemical and biological agents in mobile laboratories and could deploy them at 45 minutes' notice.

Saddam could also develop nuclear weapons in one or two years and has illegally retained medium range missiles that could be armed with chemical or biological warheads to hit targets in Turkey, Greece, Saudi Arabia, Iran and Israel.

Blair said, 'The policy of containment is not working. The weapons program is not shut down, it is up and running now.' The dossier explains how Saddam has drawn up 'military plans for the use of chemical and biological weapons.' Blair added that Iraq could produce such biological agents as anthrax, botulinium toxin, aflatoxin and ricin, all eventually resulting in 'excruciatingly painful death.'

Among the mass casualty chemical agents currently said to be stored in Iraq's arsenal are mustard gas, tabun, sarin, cyclosarin and VX. During an attack on Kurdish civilians in the town of Halbja, Saddam's military commanders used a cocktail of mustard and nerve agents to kill an estimated 5,000 people. He also used chemical weapons against Iran.

Saddam is said to have modified his Scud missiles that can now reach parts of Eastern Europe, including Turkey, Greek and Cyprus, where Britain has sovereign bases.

In the foreword to his dossier, Blair wrote, 'In light of the debate about Iraq and weapons of mass destruction, I wanted to share with the British public the reasons why I believe this issue to be a current and serious threat to the UK national interest.' In his speech, Blair said, 'We must ensure that he does not get to use the weapons he has, or get hold of the weapons he wants.'

On the issue of ousting Saddam, Blair added, 'The end of the regime would be the cause of regret for no one other than Saddam. But our purpose is disarmament.'

Blair's statement was heard with somber silence, with anti-war MPs making clear their skepticism. One prominent Labor dissenter, Diane Abbot rejected the 50-page dossier as 'a damp squib' and a 'PR stunt.'

Another left wing opponent of war, Alan Simpson, described the Blair dossier as 'deeply flawed, partial and superficial.' He added, 'Sadly, I think Bush will hit Iraq in much the same way that a drunk will hit a bottle. He needs to satisfy his thirst for power and for oil.'

Blair has so far won support from Opposition benches by Conservative Party leader Iain Duncan Smith, who says it is 'reasonable to assume' that Saddam will not shrink from hitting UK targets. Another British Opposition leader Charles Kennedy of the Liberal Democrats warned Blair to resist calls for 'precipitate action.'

Meanwhile, high-level sources in the British government confirm that next January has been provisionally booked in for the start of a new Gulf War.

Backed by US President George W Bush, Blair has given Saddam until the end of the year to submit to a new, intrusive inspections regime that allows inspectors to make rapid progress in dismantling his weapons of mass destruction.

The British leader fully expects Saddam to disrupt the work of any new inspectors and actively conceal nuclear components and chemical and biological weapons from them. Blair is reportedly convinced that a land war with thousands of British and American troops will have to be launched in the New Year.

Soldiers and military hardware are expected to gather at Iraq's borders from the end of November. They will move regardless of whether the United Nations agrees to endorse a new mandate for military action.

Royal Navy aircraft carrier Ark Royal now prepares to leave Britain's Mediterranean base of Gibraltar for Malta, on a NATO exercise codenamed Operation Argonaut, fuelling speculation that war is imminent.

British government sources say Blair and Bush will argue that they are acting as Security Council members of the UN to enforce the will of the international community, hoping that this will embarrass other members into supporting them.

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