Briefing from the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman on: Iraq, Ministerial Changes and Middle East Peace Process.
Iraq
The Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman (PMOS) briefed journalists on the situation regarding Iraq. Over the weekend, the Prime Minister had spoken to Prime Minister Howard of Australia, President Chirac of France, President Putin of Russia, Chancellor Schroeder of Germany and Prime Minister Aznar of Spain to update them on his talks last week with President Bush at Camp David. All were constructive conversations and had been perfectly amicable.
The PMOS said that the Prime Minister had chaired the daily Ministerial meeting on Iraq in Downing Street this morning in which steady progress on the military front had been reported. There had also been an update on the humanitarian situation. The PMOS took the opportunity to advise journalists that a coalition briefing would be taking place shortly in Qatar on the efforts to get water into southern Iraq. The water pipe which had been constructed from Kuwait into southern Iraq was now bringing water into that area, which was an important development.
Asked if the Prime Minister agreed with the view of the Armed Forces’ Minister, Adam Ingram, who had said this morning that only time would tell if the war in Iraq would create a new generation of terrorists, the PMOS said it was important for people to recognise that the UK had never been, and was not now, immune from the threat of international terrorism. As the Prime Minister had pointed out on many occasions in the past, who would have thought that Bali, for example, would be a target. Clearly the threat from international terrorism was real. But, as the Home Secretary had said yesterday, we needed to be alert, not alarmed. The reason why we had taken the action we had taken was because of our very legitimate concerns relating to the possibility of a marriage between international terrorists and those who had WMD. Given the fact that international terrorists clearly thought nothing of murdering 3,000 people in New York, how many more would they kill if they were able to get hold of chemical and biological weapons? This fact underlined the seriousness of the threat and explained precisely why it was that we were acting in the way we were. Asked if the Prime Minister would agree that the war in Iraq was making matters worse in respect of Arab opinion, the PMOS said that the single most important thing to be done in relation to the Middle East and Middle East opinion was to make progress on the peace process. That was clearly the biggest concern to the leaders in the region. They held no candle for Saddam. However, everyone wanted to see an even-handed approach. That was precisely why the commitment to publish the roadmap was so significant. Asked if the Prime Minister believed that the war would reduce the threat of terror in the UK rather than make it more real, the PMOS pointed out that any action that was taken to remove the threat of WMD would obviously make the world a safer place.
Questioned as to whether the Prime Minister would be making a Statement in the Commons this afternoon following his visit to Camp David last week, the PMOS said no. As we had said prior to the Prime Minister’s departure to the US, the meeting was not a ’summit’ in which decisions/announcements were going to be made.
Asked if a UN Resolution on the humanitarian effort had been passed, the PMOS reminded journalists that the Oil-for-Food Resolution had been agreed at the end of last week, as the Prime Minister had said it would. This had coincided with the Sir Galahad being able to sail up the channel to unload its humanitarian supplies. The water announcement today was also very significant. Put to him that the Oil-for-Food programme was not a new humanitarian measure, the PMOS said it was important to recognise what the Resolution was about. While it allowed for the continuation of an existing programme, it also conferred the responsibility for running it to Kofi Annan and a team of UN administrators in place of a regime which had never taken it very seriously. In the meantime, discussions were continuing regarding other Resolutions relating to post-Saddam issues. He had nothing to add to what the Prime Minister and President Bush had said at Camp David about these matters.
Asked for a reaction to an allegation raised by three British soldiers injured in a ‘friendly fire’ incident on Friday in which they had accused the American pilot responsible for going on a ‘turkey shoot’, the PMOS said that it went without saying that all efforts were taken to keep so-called ‘friendly fire’ casualties to an absolute minimum. Unfortunately, such tragic incidents sometimes happened in battle - and when they did, they were obviously a great cause for regret. Investigations were continuing about last Friday’s events. At this stage, he was unable to say when they might conclude.
Asked the Prime Minister’s reaction to comments made by some prominent backbenchers about the war, the PMOS said that recent modern conflicts, such as Kosovo and Afghanistan, had established a pattern which could be applied exactly to the military action taking place in Iraq. Last week, we had been through the ‘it-will-all-be-over-in-a-matter-of-days’ stage. This week some people were taking the ‘it-will-take-years-and-years’ approach. He drew journalists’ attention to the transcript of a press briefing from 15 April 1999 - the time of the Kosovo campaign: "Asked if he recognised phrases…..which suggested the campaign could continue to the summer, the PMOS said he only recognised phrases which were on the record…..The military campaign had weakened Milosevic’s defences and forces…..The PMOS could not say how long it was going to take him to lose this one, but as Milosevic’s Deputy Prime Minister had said on Newsnight, they knew they could not win." The PMOS also reminded journalists that three weeks into the Afghanistan campaign, the transcript of a briefing from 29 October 2001 recorded, "Put to him that people were concerned about the military strategy, the PMOS said…..this was a military conflict. On a day when Milosevic was appearing in Court again in The Hague……it was important to turn our minds back to what was being said three weeks into the Kosovo campaign. We had been told then that it was all futile and that we would never win from the air alone. Well we had….Of course we would freely acknowledge that no conflict was the same, that no military conflict was ever going to be clean and that there would always be problems along the way. However, no one should doubt that we were absolutely clear about what we were doing and that our resolve to see the campaign through was absolute". In relation to Iraq, the Prime Minister had never got carried away by the successes we had had - and there had been many. Nor had he been overwhelmed by the difficulties and problems. He remained relentlessly focussed on the big picture. It was important for people to remember what our objectives were: to disarm Saddam of his WMD, to remove that threat, to remove the regime and to liberate the Iraqi people. We were unable to predict how long that might take. It would be over when it was over - and that would happen when we had met our objectives. There was a military strategy unfolding day by day.
Asked for a reaction to Robin Cook’s article in a Sunday newspaper, the PMOS said that other Ministers had commented on what Mr Cook had said. He would simply make the point that you did not start a military campaign and then call it off after twelve days just because you hadn’t achieved all your objectives within that time period. To do such a thing in this case would leave Saddam Hussein immeasurably strengthened and send a strong message to dictators all over the world that the international community did not have the will, nor the stomach, to see things through. We were not prepared to do that.
Asked whether the question of sending additional troops to Iraq had been discussed at the Ministerial meeting this morning, the PMOS said no. We remained firmly of the view that we had the necessary forces to do the job. It went without saying that we had been involved in the military planning of the campaign, in co-operation with the US Administration, from the outset. The PMOS acknowledged the demands of twenty-four hour news and the constant desire for new story lines. However, it was important for people to understand that just because we hadn’t achieved all our objectives within twelve days did not mean that we hadn’t achieved anything. On the contrary. We had achieved a considerable amount. What was important was that our resolve to see the campaign through was infinite. Questioned as to whether there were sufficient troops to be able to rotate them as often as was necessary, the PMOS said that if it was necessary to rotate troops, then obviously that would happen in the usual way.
Questioned as to whether any decision had been made to press ahead with legislation to outlaw fire strikes, the PMOS said that discussions were continuing to try to resolve the dispute. He pointed out that the FBU had called off the latest fire strike.
Ministerial Changes
Asked to rate the probability of there being a new Leader of the House by the end of the week, the PMOS said his sense was that it would be a little while longer. Ben Bradshaw was doing a fine job pro tem. Asked if that meant that Margaret Beckett would not be the new Leader of the House, the PMOS said that Mrs Beckett was doing an excellent job in her role as Secretary of State at DEFRA. She was also a distinguished member of the Ministerial group on Iraq whose judgement the Prime Minister valued.
Middle East Peace Process
Asked when the Prime Minister was expecting the roadmap to be published, the PMOS said that it would be published when Abu Mazen, the new Palestinian Prime Minister, had formed his Cabinet. Asked if he could give any indication as to when that might be, the PMOS said that he was unable to provide a specific timetable at this point. The necessary administrative arrangements were being made by the Palestinian Authority. The commitment to publish the roadmap was genuine and it would happen. Put to him that we had said the roadmap would be published when the new Palestinian Prime Minister was appointed and that every time the Prime Minister spoke to President Bush it seemed that the publication date slipped back even further, the PMOS said that the Prime Minister and President had had a very positive discussion about the Middle East peace process at Camp David last week. The commitment to publish the roadmap was real. It would happen when the necessary administrative arrangements had been finalised by the Palestinian Authority.
Asked if the delay in publishing the roadmap should be seen as a positive or negative sign, the PMOS said he would take the benign view that it would be published at the appropriate time, but he underlined again that the commitment to publish was genuine. Questioned as to whether the hold up was due to demands being made by the relevant parties, the PMOS said that the roadmap would be presented to the parties involved. It set out clearly defined timescales and benchmarks against which progress would be judged. Obviously the parties would express a view once it was offered to them. In answer to further questions, the PMOS pointed out that the roadmap was the considered view of the Quartet. The discussion about the peace process at Camp David last week had been positive. People often overlooked the fact that it had been President Bush who, in a speech last year, had set out the two-state solution - the first time such a thing had happened. He had given a commitment to publish the roadmap. That would happen. Put to him that no one believed that was the case, the PMOS said then he believed that time would prove the President right.
In answer to questions about Jack Straw’s comment regarding the need for even-handedness in the Middle East, the PMOS underlined the importance of being even-handed. Everyone wanted to see an Israel secure within its own borders and a Palestinian state recognised and whose citizens were also able to live in safety and security. The last few months had seen a number of delays in the peace process relating to events such as election campaigns. However, the steps that had been taken to reform the Palestinian Authority were important following the conference in London in January. The appropriate mechanisms were currently being put in place inside the Palestinian Authority in relation to Abu Mazen and his Palestinian administration. People had to be a little bit patient. Put to him that reports appeared to show that Israel was making all sorts of demands on the US to change aspects of the roadmap, the PMOS said that given the fact that we were pushing for a political resolution to long-standing difficult issues, it was inevitable that the different parties would have different points of view. However, the roadmap represented the considered judgement of the Quartet and a lot of work and effort had gone into it. It would be published at the appropriate time.
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