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Armed Forces: Future Defence Policy

My Lords, I must declare a number of honorary responsibilities with regard to the focus of my remarks in today's debate, which will be on Her Majesty’s forces’ recently concluded five years of service in the federal Republic of Iraq. I chair the AMAR International Charitable Foundation, which has delivered help and education to over 1 million Iraqi people in the past 12 months. I hold the post of special adviser to the Prime Minister of Iraq and to the Iraqi Government on public health and development of the Iraqi population. I am the World Health Organisation’s special envoy for health as a tool for peace and development for the eastern Mediterranean region, which includes Iraq. I am the patron of NOAH, a British charity that seeks to provide world-class oncology to the children of Baghdad. I am chairman of the IBBC, the Iraq Britain Business Council. Last week, I led a 30-strong delegation of IBBC founder members to Baghdad as guests of the Iraqi Government. I recently relinquished my position as president of the European Parliament delegation for relations with Iraq. I am hopeful of forming an APPG, composed of Members of both Houses, for business development in Iraq and the region, which will be matched by a sister group in the Iraqi Council of Representatives. In these various capacities, I travel widely in Iraq and have worked consistently since 1991 on the ground with the Iraqi people at all levels of society. I have consequently witnessed since April 2003 the truly outstanding work of the British military throughout the country, both in their partnership with other multinational forces, most especially the US military, and independently. In his introductory remarks, the Minister stated correctly that: ""As a nation, we want to be a force for good in the world"." I can confirm that the services of the British military, throughout the entirety of their deployment, have fulfilled that high goal. Indeed, this is not my observation alone; it is the profound view of the Iraqi people today, and of their Government and elected representatives. Doubtless history, aided by the various investigations that have been launched, will clarify and secure for posterity the varying effectiveness and suitability of the decisions that the Government and both Houses participated in throughout the period in question. Indeed, Sir John Chilcot and his colleagues are performing the newest forensic analysis as we speak. Most of the post-liberation actions undertaken by non-military personnel were unwisely chosen, inadequately planned and incompetently carried out. We must improve our performance as a nation substantially in this context. As Secretary Gates of the US Pentagon said recently, ""the Armed Forces can only clear the space and hold it … for a limited duration"." It is for the Governments, institutions and civil society of democratic nations to fill the space that the Armed Forces clear at such cost to themselves and the local populations. We should be fully capable of filling this space with democracy, justice and the rule of law, health, education and training, and business and industrial development which leads to full employment. Our ultimate goal, after an armed or unarmed intervention in a fragile state should be to leave behind a peaceful and productive nation that can contribute permanently to global stability and international growth. I believe that the lessons of Iraq will show that we, in common with other democracies, have much to learn before we can be confident that we can fulfil that role. In contrast, I suggest that the British military and FCO involvement in Iraq has left a wonderful legacy that will assist growth and development in Iraq for a long time to come. Iraq is a nation that, at its best, can outperform its neighbours, lead the region and lift our own achievements to the highest standards. The UK has a historic tie to and bond with the Iraqi people. Such ties must continue and be strengthened in the United Kingdom, and are increasing daily in Iraq. The ordinary people of Iraq are highly appreciative of the work of the UK forces. They say that all the achievements, such as the constitution and the free local and national elections, are due to the multinational forces. Let us recall that, as they told me, it is the very first time that the Iraqi people have enjoyed genuine freedom. To own a mobile phone and satellite television, and to travel outside their previous prison, may look like nothing to people who are used to living in a free society, but it is everything for those who have tasted living under one of the worst dictatorships in recent history. The multinational forces, most particularly the British, have not intervened in ordinary life. They have not clashed with ordinary people. Indeed, they have done the reverse; they have provided the safety and security with which ordinary people can start to enjoy the freedoms that the intervention provided. The key quality of the British soldiers, as the Iraqi people have seen, is that they regarded themselves as a presence in the land of the Iraqi people, rather than a force of occupation. The local populations, as I saw, were seen as human beings with rights which were respected. I witnessed the British soldier becoming friends with the people, helping and supporting them, acting in a spirit that was charitable, humanitarian and open-minded. It was clear that the Iraqi people might not be his fellow countrymen, but that they were the same as him and, as such, to be respected and helped. On Sunday evening in Baghdad, Dr Ali al-Dabbagh, the spokesman of the Prime Minister, welcomed the first Iraqi-British Business Council trade mission to the Prime Minister’s office. In his speech of welcome he gave heartfelt thanks to the fallen British soldiers who had fought and died for the freedom of Iraq. He stated that their sacrifice had enabled the Iraqi people to overthrow the previous regime and to enjoy democracy, liberty and the other freedoms denied to them for so long. He said: ""For that, we, the Iraqi people will be forever grateful to the British soldiers who gave their lives for Iraq. Our thoughts and prayers will always be with their families"." That door has now closed, and military intervention gives way to a more normal life in the free and generally peaceful environment that the military have created. The door of business co-operation has swung open, and it is for us to pursue the new goals.