Straw – Supporting US could see troops home earlier
Foreign Secretary Jack Straw today suggested that sending British troops to relieve American forces outside Baghdad could ultimately speed up Britain’s withdrawal from Iraq, as it may increase the chance of elections being held on time.
Yesterday the Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon told the House of Commons that a request had been received from the Americans for a small number of UK troops to replace American troops who would then be freed up for anti-terrorism activities.
He also strongly denied that the potential deployment was connected with the upcoming US presidential elections, saying that the only connection was with the January Iraqi elections.
Mr Hoon though caused some political controversy when under questioning from Liberal Democrat MP Jenny Tongue about what penalties the UK would suffer if they refused the request, he said: “There will be no penalty, but we will have failed in our duty as an ally and as a country that has closely supported the United States.”
Some MPs took that as a signal that the request has effectively already been approved, and voiced their disquiet that UK troops might get bogged down in another sphere of operations, under American control.
Speaking today at a press conference with UN secretary-general Kofi Annan in London, Mr Straw rejected the allegation that the troop deployment was a political matter.
He said: “It is complete and utter nonsense to suggest that this request has anything whatsoever to do with the timetable or results of the American elections.”
It was, he maintained, about the “disposition” of forces necessary to make Iraq more secure.
“It is in everybody’s interest . to work for a secure and stable Iraq as quickly as possible,” he added.
The Foreign Secretary said that if the British redeployment helped bring an end to conflict in the region, it would increase the chance of the elections – scheduled for January 2005 – being held on time.
That would in turn increase the likelihood of British troops returning home on schedule, he said.
Also speaking at the press conference, Mr Annan called on the international community to set aside their differences over the war in Iraq, saying all nations had an interest in the stability of Iraq regardless of where they stood on the war.
He urged them to put all their efforts into restoring Iraq’s equilibrium so that it could “make its own destiny”, adding: “No country can afford to see a problematic Iraq in the middle of that region.”
