Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
Media: The Associated Press
Byline: By DAVID STRINGER
Date: 23 October 2006
LONDON_Coalition troops must stay in Iraq while the situation remains
volatile and international forces need to resist the temptation to "cut and
run" in the face of hostile public opinion, an Iraqi deputy prime minister
told British leaders Monday.
Iraqi forces will increasingly take over responsibility for the country's
stability from coalition troops, said Deputy Prime Minister Barham Saleh, an
influential Kurd with longtime ties to the U.S. and Britain.
He urged officials to ignore an increasingly pessimistic tone of debate over
Iraq's future.
"I do believe there is no option for the international community to cut and
run," Saleh told reporters after holding talks with Prime Minister Tony
Blair in London. "We need to understand that there is a need of utmost
urgency to deal with many of the problems of Iraq, but we must not give in
to panic."
Saleh said he was concerned about what he described as the increasing
acrimony in international debate over Iraq.
"There is too much of a pessimistic tone to this debate _ even I would say
in certain circles a defeatist tone," he told the British Broadcasting Corp.
before meeting with Blair.
He said that Iraqi forces will be in control of seven or eight of Iraq's 18
provinces by the end of the year, but that the presence of coalition troops
remains crucial as local police and military attempt to quell seemingly
unabated bloodshed and take charge across the entire country.
Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett, who also held talks with Saleh,
acknowledged that Iraq could eventually break down into multiple parts. The
Iraqi people must decide whether the country should remain as a single state
or divide along ethnic lines, she said.
"That is very much a matter for the Iraqis. They have had enough of people
from outside handing down arbitrary boundaries and arbitrary decisions,"
Beckett told BBC radio.
Saleh's 30-minute meeting at Blair's office came after defense officials and
a senior British minister claimed that Iraqi forces could be given complete
authority over Iraq's south within 12 months.
Blair's office denied he had pressed Saleh to draw up an exit timetable for
British troops, but acknowledged the talks were focussed on ensuring the
process of handing over control of provinces continues "as quickly as
possible."
"We haven't set a deadline, we won't set a deadline, we won't set an
arbitrary date," said Blair's official spokesman, who speaks only on
condition of anonymity.
The spokesman said the talks had touched on a range of topics including the
Iraqi economy.
"The prime minister reiterated again that we fully support the Iraqi
government in trying to get to a situation where it can take control of its
destiny," he said.
British defense officials have repeatedly insisted they hope to hand over
all security responsibilities in southern Iraq in 2007, cutting the number
of troops based in the country from around 7,000 to between 3,000 and 4,000.
British forces relinquished control of the southern Muthanna province in
July and neighboring Dhi Qar province in September, leaving international
troops in control of the southern provinces of Basra and Maysan.
Saleh declined to confirm Monday whether or not Iraqi forces would assume
control of both Basra and Maysan in 2007. British defense officials expected
to hand over Maysan either next month or early next year.
"We understand this cannot be an open-ended commitment by the international
community, at the end of the day it is up to the Iraqi people and the Iraqi
government to establish security," Saleh told reporters.
He said his government could not set any timetable for assuming full
control, but was "aware of the gravity and the seriousness of the situation
and that the government of Iraq needs to assume more responsibility."
Saleh also stressed that stability is dependent on neighboring Syria and
Iran working with the Iraqi government and respecting its' sovereignty.
Beckett called on the Iraqi people to show more support for Prime Minister
Nouri al-Maliki's government, claiming "it is the best game in town, if not
the only game in town."
However, asked on Monday if historians might in the future judge Britain's
role in the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq as a foreign policy disaster,
Beckett told BBC radio "yes, they may. Then again, they may not."
A total of 119 British troops have died in Iraq since the 2003 invasion.
Byline: By DAVID STRINGER
Date: 23 October 2006
LONDON_Coalition troops must stay in Iraq while the situation remains
volatile and international forces need to resist the temptation to "cut and
run" in the face of hostile public opinion, an Iraqi deputy prime minister
told British leaders Monday.
Iraqi forces will increasingly take over responsibility for the country's
stability from coalition troops, said Deputy Prime Minister Barham Saleh, an
influential Kurd with longtime ties to the U.S. and Britain.
He urged officials to ignore an increasingly pessimistic tone of debate over
Iraq's future.
"I do believe there is no option for the international community to cut and
run," Saleh told reporters after holding talks with Prime Minister Tony
Blair in London. "We need to understand that there is a need of utmost
urgency to deal with many of the problems of Iraq, but we must not give in
to panic."
Saleh said he was concerned about what he described as the increasing
acrimony in international debate over Iraq.
"There is too much of a pessimistic tone to this debate _ even I would say
in certain circles a defeatist tone," he told the British Broadcasting Corp.
before meeting with Blair.
He said that Iraqi forces will be in control of seven or eight of Iraq's 18
provinces by the end of the year, but that the presence of coalition troops
remains crucial as local police and military attempt to quell seemingly
unabated bloodshed and take charge across the entire country.
Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett, who also held talks with Saleh,
acknowledged that Iraq could eventually break down into multiple parts. The
Iraqi people must decide whether the country should remain as a single state
or divide along ethnic lines, she said.
"That is very much a matter for the Iraqis. They have had enough of people
from outside handing down arbitrary boundaries and arbitrary decisions,"
Beckett told BBC radio.
Saleh's 30-minute meeting at Blair's office came after defense officials and
a senior British minister claimed that Iraqi forces could be given complete
authority over Iraq's south within 12 months.
Blair's office denied he had pressed Saleh to draw up an exit timetable for
British troops, but acknowledged the talks were focussed on ensuring the
process of handing over control of provinces continues "as quickly as
possible."
"We haven't set a deadline, we won't set a deadline, we won't set an
arbitrary date," said Blair's official spokesman, who speaks only on
condition of anonymity.
The spokesman said the talks had touched on a range of topics including the
Iraqi economy.
"The prime minister reiterated again that we fully support the Iraqi
government in trying to get to a situation where it can take control of its
destiny," he said.
British defense officials have repeatedly insisted they hope to hand over
all security responsibilities in southern Iraq in 2007, cutting the number
of troops based in the country from around 7,000 to between 3,000 and 4,000.
British forces relinquished control of the southern Muthanna province in
July and neighboring Dhi Qar province in September, leaving international
troops in control of the southern provinces of Basra and Maysan.
Saleh declined to confirm Monday whether or not Iraqi forces would assume
control of both Basra and Maysan in 2007. British defense officials expected
to hand over Maysan either next month or early next year.
"We understand this cannot be an open-ended commitment by the international
community, at the end of the day it is up to the Iraqi people and the Iraqi
government to establish security," Saleh told reporters.
He said his government could not set any timetable for assuming full
control, but was "aware of the gravity and the seriousness of the situation
and that the government of Iraq needs to assume more responsibility."
Saleh also stressed that stability is dependent on neighboring Syria and
Iran working with the Iraqi government and respecting its' sovereignty.
Beckett called on the Iraqi people to show more support for Prime Minister
Nouri al-Maliki's government, claiming "it is the best game in town, if not
the only game in town."
However, asked on Monday if historians might in the future judge Britain's
role in the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq as a foreign policy disaster,
Beckett told BBC radio "yes, they may. Then again, they may not."
A total of 119 British troops have died in Iraq since the 2003 invasion.