Blair to withdraw some troops from Iraq
Iraq-UK, Politics, 2/21/2007

Opposition Conservative leader David Cameron today repeated his call on Prime Minister Tony Blair to "at least accept the principle" on the need for a full-scale inquiry into the Iraq war.

"The fact is that while many of us in this House (of Commons) supported the intervention in Iraq, there have been many, many bad mistakes. Isn't it essential that we learn the lessons of those mistakes?" Cameron said.

His call came as Blair announced a drawdown in the number of British troops in Iraq from 7,100 to some 5,500 over the next few months, less than what was widely anticipated.

"Surely he will agree with me that we must also learn the broader lessons of the last six years since 9/11. That the strategy must go beyond military force," the Conservative leader said in response.

He said that Britain needed "the soft power of diplomacy to accompany the hard power of military action" as well as the need for "broad-based alliances right across the region" of the Middle East.

"Because a moral purpose must always be accompanied by moral means, surely we must recognize that, in the last six years, issues like Guantanamo and extraordinary rendition have done huge damage to our moral authority," Cameron warned Blair.

In response, the prime minister said that there were groups in Iraq who have "different aims, different ideologies, but a common purpose - to prevent Iraq's democracy from working." "There can be legitimate debate about what was right and what was wrong in respect of the original decision to remove Saddam. There can be no debate about the rights and wrongs about the legitimacy of what is happening in Iraq today," he said.

"The desire for democracy is good, the attempt to destroy it through terrorism is evil. Unfortunately, that is not the question. The question is not should we, but can we defeat this evil?" Blair said, repeating the terminology used by US President George W. Bush.

Earlier, he admitted that there was a "sickening level of carnage," but insisted that progress was being made in defending his decision to overthrow Saddam Hussein's regime.

It was the poisonous ideology, rather than the US and UK, that "has chosen Iraq as the battleground," Blair said.

Meantime today, White House spokesman Tony Snow was asked id the Iraq withdrawal plan announced by Tony Blair is a negative sign. Snow said "No, it indicates that there's been some progress in Basra. The fact that there has been progress in a couple of areas -- one is training up Iraqis to take over some of the responsibilities that the Brits and the Danes have been handling within Basra has made it possible for Britain to remove some of the forces. On the other hand, it has not changed the combat capability of British forces within the area, and instead, as we understand it -- and I think you have to -- I have not had a full chance to read through the Prime Minister's comments today -- but as we understand it, they are going to have enhanced abilities to continue doing the work of embedding and training and working with the Iraqis, with the army, with the police and also with border guards."

He added "So the Brits still have a significant commitment. But the fact that they have made some progress on the ground is going to enable them to move some of the forces out, and that's ultimately the kind of thing that we want to be able to see throughout Iraq. As the President said all along, the idea is to build greater Iraqi capability, and when the time comes, to be able to move folks out."

Asked "The plan calls for the British to remove troops as conditions permit. And the initial response from the US was that that's a model to emulate. But that's what some have, in fact, been calling for here, is time lines for removal of troops if conditions permit. So why is that model not okay for US troops?"

Snow said "No, this is not a time line. And the Prime Minister made it clear it is not a time line. As a matter of fact, what you had is progress first and then the removal. This was not in response to any calendar that had been set by the Parliament or by the Prime Minister. In fact, it had been the result of a judgment."

He added "And a lot of what's happening is that in certain facilities in Basra, for instance, guard responsibilities -- what they call fixed security responsibilities -- now are being handed over to the Iraqis. They've trained them up, they're able to do it, be able to transfer some of the authority. So there are still plenty of challenges within Basra, which is why they maintain a sizable and robust military capability within the province. But to the extent that they're able to transfer responsibilities, as we've seen in other provinces, that's what you want to do. So, again, this is not a case of a specified time line, trying to hit it. But, look, the President has made clear all along, we want to do -- we want to move as rapidly as we can to build capability on the part of the Iraqis so they can, in fact, assume first, primary responsibility, and then eventually, sole responsibility not only for matters of security, but also economic development, political reconciliation and so on."

Previous Stories:
  UK given 14 days for US tape showing Iraq killing   (2/4/2007)
  Bush's foreign policy has failed, says UK minister   (1/20/2007)
  Blair urged to lead debate on Iraq war   (1/20/2007)
  UK soldier was killed by other UK soldiers in Iraq   (11/27/2006)
  UK troops in Iraq under increasing attacks   (5/23/2006)
  BBC: UK troop cuts in Iraq of 10 percent   (3/13/2006)

Please add a link on your webiste pointing to ArabicNews.com and bookmark ArabicNews.com & subscribe to our daily email news bulletin.

Search