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Ministry of Defence

It is not for me to decide anything. That is for the Iraqi people to decide. When I put the argument to the Minister before, he found it amusing and suggested that I was some kind of imperialist who wanted to go in and sort out Iraq’s problems. He might remember the debate, and he knew perfectly well that that is not what I was pushing for. It is something that the Iraqis need to decide, but the option that I have mentioned has not been debated to the full. If we speak to the Kurds, Shi’ites and Sunnis, we find that it is an option that has not been pursued. It provides the blueprint for another solution, other than the civil war towards which we are now heading.