Oral question asked in the House of Lords, by Lord Foulkes of Cumnock (Labour). It was answered on Wednesday, 19 October 2005.

Iraq: Withdrawal

Question: My Lords, on the deployment of troops in Iraq, will the Minister give much greater weight to the views of the government of Iraq than to some of the voices from the Benches opposite? Is he, like me, mildly disappointed that some people opposite tend to concentrate on perceived problems in Iraq, instead of celebrating the successes—such as the recent turnout in the referendum, which was greater than we had in our general election?

Answer: My Lords, I thank my noble friend for the points that he makes. It may be useful for me to cite the words of President Talabani himself in a recent press conference. He said:"““To those who are calling for a pull out of the troops from Iraq, I say we too want to see an end to the presence of the multinational force, but the actions of the terrorists are keeping them there’””." It is important for us to ensure that we maintain a balance in the debate that we have on this vital subject. I do not want to give the impression of a rosy picture. Quite the contrary, the challenges that we face and that we ask our Armed Forces to deal with in Iraq are significant. None the less, as my noble friend mentioned, it is true that we are making progress. Last week, I talked about how that is making a difference to the people themselves. It is important for us to talk about that as well.

Secondary information