Leadership Quote by Jean-Pierre Raffarin

The line is diplomacy trying to sound like principle. Raffarin’s “We would like UN resolutions to be enforced, including on Iraq” borrows the clean moral authority of rules while keeping a careful distance from the messy question everyone heard in 2002-03: enforced by whom, and how?

That verb phrase, “would like,” is doing heavy lifting. It signals commitment without signing a blank check. France, facing U.S. pressure to back military action against Saddam Hussein, wanted to look tough on Iraqi noncompliance while resisting the idea that “enforcement” automatically meant an American-led invasion. The sentence tries to stitch together two audiences: Washington, which was framing Iraq as a test of credibility for international order, and a European public deeply wary of another war sold as necessity.

The subtext is an argument about legitimacy, not just Iraq. By invoking “UN resolutions” rather than “U.S. security” or “regime change,” Raffarin places the United Nations - and by extension the Security Council, where France holds a veto - at the center of decision-making. “Including on Iraq” is a tactical add-on: it prevents France from being caricatured as indulgent toward Saddam, while still leaving room for inspections, containment, and prolonged diplomacy.

It’s also a defensive move against the accusation that the UN is toothless. Raffarin is essentially saying: yes, rules should have consequences, but consequences must be collectively authorized. In that era’s transatlantic fight, the battle wasn’t over whether Iraq was a problem; it was over who got to define the solution.