Page 23 - Week 01 - Tuesday, 12 February 1991
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Mr Speaker, the facts are clear. The war has one cause only. On 2 August 1990 Iraq invaded and occupied Kuwait - an independent, sovereign member of the United Nations. The international community demanded that the invading forces withdraw and, working through the United Nations, tried through peaceful means to persuade Saddam Hussein that he should remove his forces from Kuwait. As the Prime Minister has pointed out:
There is no parallel for the restraint, the patience and the caution with which the world alliance against Saddam Hussein has sought by peaceful means to resolve this conflict.
These peaceful means, which included the use of sanctions, did not have the desired effect. Saddam Hussein treated them with contempt and chose to firmly tread the path to war. Indeed, he has even sought to widen the conflict. It has been a terrible outcome for Iraq, and for the rest of the world.
The fact that it was not possible to achieve a peaceful outcome has not been easy for any of us. For some Australians this tragic result has been translated into strident opposition to the war. I can understand people's views, but I am unable to share that opinion. To quote the Prime Minister again:
The great lesson of this century is that peace is bought at too high a price, if that price is the appeasement of aggression.
I offer his words, Mr Speaker, because they give eloquent expression to my own thoughts on the matter.
One particular by-product of the conflict has been the tactic adopted by Saddam Hussein of trying to obscure the reason for this conflict and distracting attention from his act of aggression by bringing in other emotive Middle East issues such as the Palestinian question. It is distressing that Saddam Hussein has had some limited success in obscuring the issue in this way. These concerns, while legitimate and requiring resolution, must not be permitted to obfuscate the central issue at stake here.
The one reason for this war is the decision Iraq took to invade and occupy an independent, sovereign and peaceful state - Kuwait - and its decision to remain in occupation in spite of international condemnation. At no stage up to now has Iraq accepted withdrawal from Kuwait as a first step to peace.
When I think about the situation in the Gulf and in the Middle East I appreciate even more than before the value of the multicultural society that we have achieved in Australia and in the Australian Capital Territory - a society that is increasingly characterised by people of different cultures learning from each other and living and
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