Taoiseach refuses to condemn US Iraq attack

The Taoiseach told the Dáil he was not "answerable for pre-emptive strikes by anybody". Mr Ahern stood for and believed in the United Nations, but he refused to condemn the US's pre-emptive attack on Iraq.

As the Iraq war entered its second week, Mr Ahern was challenged repeatedly by the Labour leader, Mr Pat Rabbitte, about the Government's position on the "new doctrine of pre-emptive war, sponsored by the people surrounding President Bush".

Mr Rabbitte, during questions from Opposition leaders, said that the Tánaiste, Ms Harney had articulated the view that "it is America, right or wrong".

A majority of the people understood the Government had a difficult decision to make and the UK and the US were good friends. People were, however, distressed by "the manner of the handling of the crisis by the Government" and particularly by the view articulated by Ms Harney.

"When given the opportunity at the UN, where will the Government stand?" Mr Rabbitte asked. Mr Ahern said the State's policy since 1955 "has been to play our international role in foreign policy under the collective security of the UN. That remains the position". The Government decided not to be involved or to participate in any way in this conflict because we could not do so without a UN resolution.

The position "is now to work as best we can and to the fullest extent with the UN on the humanitarian aid issue. We can do many things in this regard, which have been outlined". Unfortunately, "this has been a bad experience but we must build on that, see where the difficulties and fault lines were and continue to work collectively with the Security Council at the centre, to promote peace, justice and security in the world as best we can", said Mr Ahern.

Mr Rabbitte said he had asked the Taoiseach only a single question, but had not got a reply. He had traced in the Dáil the origins of the doctrine of pre-emptive war from 1992 to 1997. Half a dozen people now in Mr Bush's cabinet had "anchored the document 'Project for the New American Century' and in 1998 they wrote to then president Mr Bill Clinton demanding that "he should invade Iraq and discount the UN".

Mr Rabbitte asked: "What is the position of the Government on the new international doctrine sponsored by the people surrounding President Bush of pre-emptive war?" Mr Ahern reminded Mr Rabbitte that the Clinton administration was in Government for a large number of the UN security council resolutions directed against Iraq's President Saddam Hussein.

When the Labour leader said the Clinton administration did not invade Iraq, Mr Ahern replied: "We would not be faced with the Bush administration having to deal with this issue if Saddam Hussein, a dictator who killed one million people, had fulfilled his obligations during the term of the Clinton administration".

Asked if the Government's €5 million commitment to the humanitarian fund was in addition to the general development aid fund or if it came from the general allocation, Mr Ahern said: "We will continue to put as many resources as possible into the humanitarian effort. We committed resources yesterday and we have already provided resources to the general fund. We will use as much as possible to help genuine Iraqi people."