Oral question asked in the House of Lords, by Baroness Williams of Crosby (Liberal Democrat). It was answered on Monday, 10 October 2005.

Iraq: Security Forces

Question: My Lords, does not the Minister consider his original reply to be a shade complacent, given that only two days ago one of the most senior figures in the United States army said that only one battalion of the Iraqi army was capable of handling the insurgency without the support of coalition forces? In view of the terrible level of casualties among those seeking recruitment in particular to the police force, who are obviously targeted by suicide bombers, precisely what steps are being taken to protect those young men and women so that their lives are regarded as valuable, regardless of the fact that they are lining up to be recruited?

Answer: My Lords, we are not complacent. I do not want to present a glowing picture but neither do I believe that people should be over-pessimistic. Progress is being made. We recognise that the security situation is challenging, but we can expect that as the political process goes forward. We have the vote on the referendum this Saturday. The enemy we are up against is looking to undermine the support that we are giving to the Iraqis as they move forward towards democracy. The support that we are giving is working; we can see evidence of that. We are not complacent. I mentioned the incident on 19 September when the ability of our forces to deal admirably with that situation was shown. They showed the ability to rescue two servicemen without firing a shot. That is to their real credit and underlines the progress that we are making.

Secondary information