35,000 Iraq civilian deaths ‘tragic’
Tony Blair has described news that almost 35,000 Iraqi civilians died last year as “tragic”, but insisted British and American forces must not back down.
New UN figures suggest 34,452 civilians were killed in Iraq in 2006, and 36,685 were injured. This is far more than the Iraqi government’s estimate of about 12,300.
More than 6,300 of these people were killed in November and December, and the vast majority – 4,700 – were in Baghdad, where the US is in control of the security situation.
Questioned about the figures in his monthly press conference today, the prime minister said: “Of course it’s tragic when innocent civilians lose their lies in Iraq.
“Hundreds of thousands of them lost their lives under Saddam. Now thousands of them are losing their lives. But they’re losing their lives because of terrorists and because internal extremists linking up with external extremists are killing them.
“Its not British and American soldiers who are killing innocent civilians- we’re trying to protect innocent people.”
Mr Blair added: “Our response when this terrorism happens shouldn’t be to run away from the situation – it should be to stand up to them, to fight back and to defeat them.”
The prime minister met with Iraqi vice-president Tareq al-Hashemi in Downing Street yesterday, where the Sunni politician reaffirmed his government’s support for US president George Bush’s plan to send a further 20,000 troops into Iraq.
British ministers have sought to distance themselves from the plan, saying they still hoped to hand over control of security in Basra – where the majority of the 7,200 UK forces are based – to the Iraqi army and police in the spring.
But today Mr Blair said there was no major difference in US and UK policy, arguing: “What we are doing down in Basra, it forms exactly the same part of the same framework of approach as the Americans up in Baghdad.
“The issue is how do you ensure that you take the security measures necessary so that the Iraqis can take over eventual responsibility for their own security and they can do the reconciliation and reconstruction necessary.
“The difference between Baghdad and Basra is simply that we’re in a different set of circumstances in the one than the other.”
However, Liberal Democrat leader Menzies Campbell said today’s figure proved how “the coalition is more and more part of the problem and less and less part of the solution”.
“That is why President Bush’s rejection of phased withdrawal proposed by the Iraq Study Group is a serious error. The insensitive and humiliating circumstances surrounding Saddam Hussein’s execution can only make matters worse,” he said.
