United Future backs UN role in Iraq conflict
United Future New Zealand leader, Peter Dunne, today called for a fresh United Nations mandate for any military action
in Iraq.
Speaking in Parliament in response to the Prime Minister's Statement, Mr Dunne, who is chairman of Parliament's foreign
affairs and trade select committee, said United Future did not favour unilateral action by any nation.
"Saddam Hussein must be disarmed," he said, "but we live in a rules-based international system and that must be
respected, otherwise international anarchy ensues.
"Any New Zealand involvement should only be on the back of a fresh UN Security Council resolution and it should be in
the areas we do best, such as logistical support; medical aid; and peacemaking and peacekeeping roles such as we did in
East Timor and Bosnia.
"Sadly, it seems that United States intervention - with or without UN sanction - is inevitable, given the apparent
rejection of compromises and alternative proposals advanced by France, Germany, Russia and China."
Mr Dunne also raised what he described as a bigger issue: assuming there was a swift and surgical strike against Iraq
with the removal of the Hussein regime, what happened next?
"Who will lead the recovery of Iraq that will be necessary? Will it be an American-imposed pro-consul or a United
Nations-led role?" he asked.
He said United Future believed the UN, not any one country, has to lead any post Hussein-recovery programme to ensure
genuine democracy is established.
He added that the real contribution of the United States in the longer term has to be using its influence to resolve
the ongoing Israeli/Palestine conflict, which lies at the heart of so much current international tension.