Solomon Passy: In the case of Saddam Hussein, conventional political thought belongs to yesterday

From a speech on Iraq by the Bulgarian foreign minister at the Atlantic Club in Sofia

The regime of Saddam Hussein is a potential threat not only to its own people. The historical experience shows that when the international community has not assumed its responsibilities, and has not stopped such authoritarian regimes because of "the high price to be paid", it had to pay a much higher price later on. We can find many historical examples – Hitler, Milosevic, and now Saddam Hussein.

We have to be aware of the fact that we are facing a challenge of a new kind. If the Kosovo crisis marked the end of the Cold War and closed the 20th century, the situation in Iraq is a qualitatively new challenge for the international community, which must prove that it is able effectively to prevent such a regime from obtaining weapons of mass destruction – weapons that could turn the threat of nuclear terrorism into a tragic reality.

The events of 11 September 2001 clearly showed that nobody was safe with regard to terrorist threats. The measures against them have to be collective and timely, and everybody has to assume their responsibilities. There are many "clever" thoughts about politics – that there are no eternal friends and enemies, but eternal interests; that it is an art of the possible; that there is no "moral", etc. I am convinced that in the case of Saddam Hussein such definitions belong to yesterday. The characteristics of his regime and the threat he represents for the world require responsible decisions of a new kind.

The presumption "not guilty until the contrary is proved" cannot be applied, when there is systematic abuse of the general rules of the international community, and it has expressed its judgement in the form of the resolutions. Saddam Hussein has to prove that he does not possess weapons of mass destruction or that the ones he still possesses will be destroyed before the weapons inspectors.

Our belief is that the Security Council will be unified in assuming the high responsibilities and will reconfirm its leading role in guaranteeing international peace and security. The Iraqi people deserve a better fate and peaceful future, and Bulgaria is ready to contribute in this regard.