Downing Street Says » Iraq Timetable

Asked about reports that the Government was urging the US to lay out a timetable for withdrawal from Iraq, the PMOS said that he had set out the position yesterday, and more importantly so had the Prime Minister during PMQs. The position was that we were in Iraq and we would finish the job. We had set out last April that the policy was one of Iraqisation, of building up the capacity of the Iraqi forces in the round to deal with terrorism. We were there at the moment at the request of the Iraqi interim government. It would be a matter for the democratically elected Iraqi government to decide what its policy was after the election. What was important was that we did not create a situation where we abandoned the first ever democratically elected Government of Iraq. We would not cut and run as the Prime Minister had said in April and that remained our position. Put to him that that was different to setting up a timetable for gradually phasing out the allied presence in Iraq, the PMOS said that yes it was different. The PMOS said that he was sorry if that doesn’t quite accrue with what the Daily Telegraph had said but having a timetable in place irrespective of the facts on the ground was not what was needed. What was required was a policy geared towards allowing the Iraqis to take control of their own destiny. That did mean creating a situation in which democratic elections, though difficult, were possible but also creating a situation where a new democratically elected Iraqi government was able to protect itself. That had been the policy since April and remained the policy.

Asked why the Prime Minister and the allies thought that after elections that resistance in Iraq would simply pack up and go away, the PMOS said that the Government had never said that the insurgents would just give up. We had always recognised that this would be a struggle. The difference was that post-elections there would be a legitimate democratically elected government which expressed the views of the Iraqi people. That would be the first time in recent history that that had been possible. That government would have the credibility and the legitimacy of being elected by the Iraqi people and therefore the insurgents who continued their activity would be doing so in defiance of the wishes of the Iraqi people and that was the reality which would slowly dawn on them. In terms of the Iraqi government, that government would also have the use of forces which had been created to allow it to enforce its will. Those forces were increasing their capacity, not just in quantity but in quality as time went on, month by month.

Asked if the Government believed that the new Iraqi government would have a real democratic mandate regardless of how many people voted, the PMOS said that the Government believed that the Iraqi people wanted to vote. All the evidence, such as polling in Iraq suggests that. When the Prime Minister visited Iraq before Christmas, we saw for ourselves the very real risks that Iraqis were running to organise those elections and allow those elections to take place. We had to recognise the bravery of those concerned and support them in that effort.

Asked how important the Government viewed the verdict of the UN on the elections, the PMOS said that the UN was intimately involved in the organisation of the elections. It was the person in charge of organising the elections for the UN who told the Prime Minister that he believed that Iraqis wanted to vote. The UN wasn’t just the implementer but was at the core of the process. Put to him that the UN intended to pass a verdict on how free and fair the elections were, the PMOS said that the people who would pass the ultimate verdict on the elections were the Iraqi people themselves.

2 Comments »

I thought "shall I comment"?
then I thought nah
then I thought – well at least I can explain why I didn’t comment

too much bullshit

this PMOS has real opportunities as a proper politician if they are prepared to sacrifice a career in the Civil Service

unfortunately the PMOS is reporting government policy – now that is bad 🙁
Comment by Roger Huffadine — 22 Jan 2005 on 11:40 am | Link
There’s not really much you can say when faced with something like this. I just want to flag the idiocy of the government thinking the insurgency will end as it slowly dawns on the insurgents (post-election) that Iraqis don’t want to be in the middle of a War. This is nonsense. The government is simply not in touch with reality regarding Iraq.

It’ll be interesting to keep this quote in mind and see what happens to the government line over the next few months.

"That government would have the credibility and the legitimacy of being elected by the Iraqi people and therefore the insurgents who continued their activity would be doing so in defiance of the wishes of the Iraqi people and that was the reality which would slowly dawn on them."
Comment by square peg — 25 Jan 2005 on 2:24 pm | Link

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» Thursday, January 20, 2005

Iraq Timetable

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