British Parliament Backs Tony Blair 412 – 149

British Parliament just voted in favor of war by a rather decisive margin after voting down a resolution opposing miltary action. After the opposition vote came in at 217 – 396, it seems as if any real opposition in the British House of Commons simply dissapated.

What did it? If you watched Foreign Minister Jack Straw’s speech on the floor of the House of Commons last night, you would have been impressed:

Sadly, one country then ensured that the Security Council could not act. President Chirac’s unequivocal announcement last Monday that France would veto a second Resolution “whatever the circumstances,” inevitably created a sense of futility in our negotiations. I deeply regret that France has put Security Council consensus beyond reach.

The alternative proposals submitted by France, Germany and Russia for more time and more inspections carry no ultimatum and no threat of force. They do not implement 1441 but seek to rewrite it. To have adopted such proposals would have allowed Saddam to continue stringing out inspections indefinitely. And he would rightly draw the lesson that the Security Council was not prepared to enforce the ultimatum which lies at the centre of Resolution 1441: that in the event of non-compliance, Iraq should expect “serious consequences.”

Mr. Speaker, the debate tomorrow will be the most important in the House for many years. Some say that Iraq can be disarmed without an ultimatum, without the threat or the use of force, but simply by more time and more inspections. That approach is defied by all our experience over 12 weary years. It cannot produce the disarmament of Iraq; it cannot rid the world of the danger of the Iraqi regime. It can only bring comfort to tyrants the world over, and emasculate the authority of the United Nations. It is for these reasons that we shall be asking the House to support the Government’s motion tomorrow.