PRESS RELEASE

17 March 2003

BASIC calls for MPs to view Iraqi UN declaration today

Earlier this month President Bush was forced to disclose the full contents of the Iraqi UN declaration to Congress. The British American Security Information Council (BASIC) asks why the same information has not been made available to British MPs in advance of the Parliamentary debate on 18 March.

The Bush Administration was forced to turn over documentation to Congress following an initiative led by Congressman Dennis J. Kucinich (Democrat from Ohio). On 7 March, the 12,000- page Iraqi declaration made to the UN on 7 December 2002 was finally released to Congress.

“In obtaining information that the Administration had deliberately withheld from the public and from Congress, Dennis Kucinich has achieved a small but significant victory for openness and transparency,” said BASIC Director, Dr Ian Davis.  He added: “The release of this information should ensure that a more informed debate now takes place in the US.”

Regarding the situation in the UK, he said: “Before sending British armed forces into battle, a full and open debate must be held on the merits of war with Iraq now versus the continuation of inspections. The original Iraqi declaration to the UN is central to understanding whether Iraq has met its commitments under Resolution 1441.”

Yet British MPs have been denied access to the Iraqi report. “Like their counterparts in Washington, MPs need to see this vital piece of evidence before tomorrow’s debate in the House of Commons,” Davis said.

Explaining US release of the report, he said that Congressman Kucinich used a rare procedure known as a ‘Resolution of Inquiry’, filed in the House of Representatives on 12 February, to pry the information out of the Administration.  While the Resolution of Inquiry did not pass, the pressure led to an arrangement made by the US State Department and the House International Relations Committee Chairman Henry Hyde (Republican from Illinois) to transfer the document to the House Permanent Select Intelligence Committee. 

For further information contact:

Dr Ian Davis, BASIC, London  
Tel: +44 207 407 2977   
E-mail: idavis@basicint.org

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