Troops in Iraq ‘as long as required’
Britain will stand “shoulder to shoulder” with Iraqis until they establish democracy in their country, John Reid said today.
The defence secretary insisted the determination of the multinational coalition in Iraq to ‘get the job done’ held strong despite the increasing number of attacks by insurgents.
He said there had never been the intention to stay in the country indefinitely – a move that would have opened up calls of ‘imperialist ambitions’ – but said any withdrawal of forces will be “based on local conditions, not some immutable timetable”.
Writing in The Times, Mr Reid said withdrawal would be a “process, not a peremptory decision” and dependent on progress on democratic political control by the Iraqis and the trained capacity of Iraqi security forces.
The achievement of these objectives was the aim of the coalition forces and the Iraqi government, but also of the whole international community, he said.
It was the United Nations’ timetable to have a constitution by mid August, a referendum ratifying it by mid October, and a democratically elected government by the end of the year that was “driving” this political programme.
“Nobody, least of all me, would pretend that the situation in Iraq is a rosy one,” Mr Reid continued.
“I know better than most the hardships, dangers and difficulties, because our servicemen and women live with them daily. But our people there and the Iraqis themselves are doing heroic work in incredibly difficult circumstances.”
He said significant progress was being made in Iraq and warned that although there had been controversy about the decision to enter the country in the first place, the “dividing lines are now absolutely clear”.
“The way to defeat those terrorists is to allow Iraqis to triumph: to establish democracy, on their terms, as they want it; to help them to take the lead in their own counter-terrorism strategy and make themselves secure; and, to help them to rebuild their shattered infrastructure after decades of neglect,” Mr Reid wrote.
“Iraqis now have a genuine opportunity to live in freedom and determine their own future. The people of that nation have a chance of achieving a place in Middle Eastern history; free, democratic and prosperous.
“They will decide how that democracy unfolds, not us. But we have helped to give them the chance and we will stand shoulder to shoulder with them as they do it, and until they do it.”
