§ Lord Kennetasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether it is their belief that attacks on nuclear research facilities in countries about which they have "good information" that the government is "seeking to develop nuclear weapons" are lawful (Written Answer, 20th March, col. WA 25); what United Nations Security Council Resolutions authorised such attacks in Iraq; whether they explicitly agreed that the plants should be attacked; and whether they will spell out the contribution of these attacks to the liberation of Kuwait, and the 80WA rules of war under which they were deemed justified, given that it was nowhere held that Iraq was in possession of, or near to possession of, nuclear weapons.
The Earl of Caithness:Security Council Resolution No. 678 authorised the member states of the coalition to use "all necessary means" for the achievement of the specified purposes. In selecting the means used, the coalition was at pains to comply with the rules of international law governing the choice of weapons and targets and in particular, so far as nuclear targets were concerned, took scrupulous care to avoid or minimise the risk of collateral damage or environment-tal contamination.