The UK has a legal and moral responsibility to Iraq. Under Resolution 1483 and subsequent UN resolutions, the British hold shared responsibility in international law for what happened during and after the invasion of Iraq.
Whilst much has been achieved by the coalition in ending the regime of a brutal dictator and the holding of elections, it is now clear that the initial, over ambitious vision of the coalition can no longer be achieved in Iraq. The UK government needs, therefore to redefine its objectives. In the words of Sir Jeremy Greenstock, the former British Special Representative in Iraq, “We thought we were going to achieve something good, that has not happened. It’s actually time for change. It is time to do something about it.”
It is the view of the Commission that the UK government’s aims for Iraq should now be to:
• Preserve and underpin the territorial integrity of the Iraqi state.
• Support a strongly federal internal structure for the Iraqi state, as envisaged, but not yet implemented, under the present constitution.
• Promote the constructive engagement of Iraq’s neighbours in the achievement of the above aims, and support any initiative aimed at stabilising the region.
• Prevent Iraq being a base for al Qaeda attacks within Iraq and beyond its borders....
Bookmarks