Ming Campbell discusses the developing situation in Iraq, the Government’s policy failure there, and the need for the Prime Minister to face up to the stark choice that has presented itself: change the strategy in Iraq - or get out.
At Prime Minster’s Questions today, Ming Campbell MP pressed Mr Blair on his strategy on Iraq.
The United Nations calculates that there are 3,000 Iraqi civilians being killed every month. In those circumstances, how can the Prime Minister maintain that our presence is not exacerbating the present security situation?
The Government’s strategy has failed. And in those circumstances, the choice is stark. Change the strategy or else get out.
Responding to a new report in the Lancet suggesting that over 665,000 people have been killed in Iraq since March 2003, Liberal Democrat Leader Ming Campbell said:
It is a disgrace that we have no clear idea of the numbers of Iraqi civilians killed since the war began.
There is no doubt however that there is a slide towards civil war.
Time is running out. There is a desperate need for a new strategy led not by the US, but by the UN, providing for a peace process with a reinvigorated reconstruction programme and concerted international and regional engagement.
Find out more about Liberal Democrats proposals for a new strategy for Iraq »
Ming Campbell wrote today in the Observer as follows:
The ceasefire in Lebanon is holding, if only by a thread, which makes it all the more unacceptable that there was so much reluctance on the part of the British government to call for it from the outset. By procrastinating, the government found itself ranged against Kofi Annan, its own party and the majority of the British people.
While there was no ceasefire, many Lebanese and Israelis were killed or wounded. While there was no ceasefire, the infrastructure of Lebanon was obliterated, Hizbollah gained in stature and the Israeli government was weakened. Who would dare say that the Middle East is now a safer, more stable place than it was before the fighting began?
A ceasefire was not just the right thing to do - it was the only sensible thing to do. A ceasefire was rooted in principle and pragmatism. The government’s failure to understand this was a major misjudgment, but we should not be surprised. It reflects, albeit in a lower key, the misjudgment of military action against Iraq. It springs from the Prime Minister’s evangelical view of foreign policy.
Commenting on the reports that an Israeli strike has killed 40 people in Southern Lebanon, Leader of the Liberal Democrats, Ming Campbell said:
This is a tragedy. While the diplomatic effort stalls, the dismantling of Lebanon continues.
We need a totally committed effort to achieve an immediate ceasefire on both sides. It is essential that Britain, the US and the United Nations engage with the Arab League to ensure that this is achieved. Delay costs lives.
