Downing Street Says » Helen Liddell/Iraq

Mr Straw was asked if Iraq was part of the war on terror. Responding, he recalled the motion passed by the House on March 18, 2003 – and the case which both he and the Prime Minister had made – in respect of the threat, as UN Resolution 1441 had stated, to international peace and security posed by the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, the long-range missile systems and the Iraq’s failure to comply with UN resolutions. He said that what had happened subsequently was that the population in Iraq had been subjected to terrible terrorist attacks, as witnessed by yesterday’s tragic events. Asked for his view of the Prime Minister’s comment that Iraq was now in the front line of terror, he said he agreed with the explanation given by the PMOS at an earlier briefing today.

To a suggestion that the action in Iraq had now resulted in terrorism, the Leader acknowledged that that there was terrorism in the country. He said that it was worth bearing in mind that such terrorism in Iraq principally was instigated by extremist Sunni groups, many with links to Al-Qaeda. However, he completely rejected any suggestion that the UK was responsible for Al-Qaeda, whether it was operating in Iraq or anywhere else. He said no-one could answer the counter-factual "what if" there had not been action taken in respect of Iraq, except that he was absolutely certain that a world-wide terrorist threat, killing thousands of people, would still have existed in respect of Al-Qaeda, just as it had been before the military action. He recalled that 9/11 had occurred 18 months before it.

Asked to comment specifically on the remarks of Helen Liddell, Mr Straw said he was aware that they had caused some interest in Australia. However, he did not think they were exceptionable. It was for politicians in Australia to make their own judgements. The Leader was asked why the phrase "war on terror" was no longer acceptable. Responding, he said that different individuals chose different language. He personally did not recall ever using the direct phrase; he had used other language to describe the same phenomenon. He had not discussed the specific use of words with anyone, including the Prime Minister. Mr Straw said that, to him, the PMOS had made a statement of fact earlier.

Pressed on the use of the language, the Leader repeated his view that, while others had used the phrase "war on terror", he had not. Asked for his reason, he said that he happened to believe that his choice of words was appropriate language, which was his choice. In response to a further question, the Leader recalled that, in the preamble to Resolution 1441, there was reference to terrorism, although the main argument was about Iraq’s failure to comply with the Security Council’s resolutions.

The Leader was asked for his analysis of the situation in Iraq in the light of the latest developments. Mr Straw said that he cared deeply about all the communities of Iraq and had friends there. Looking back historically, he said that the majority Shia population had been dominated by a Sunni minority, whose ruling group had become more and more extreme and ruthless. That had created the seeds of instability in Iraq, but he thought it was highly complacent to assume that, if there had not been military action, the country would be in a benign state. It was not the case before. Saddam’s regime had not been stable. Asked about the scale of the killings in Iraq at present, he said he was not in a position to make a detailed comment. He noted what both the Prime Minister of Iraq and the US military commander had said. Tragically, a group of nihilist extremists in Iraq were intent on slaughter, but he thought that, in the end, it would be controlled.

1 Comment »

Powerful and accurate analysis by Michael Ware(an Australian incidentally) on CNN:

http://middlemostpost.com/index.php?itemid=1059
Comment by tony — 23 Apr 2007 on 9:52 pm | Link

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» Friday, April 20, 2007

Helen Liddell/Iraq

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