Troops Must Quit When Iraqis Take Power - Campbell

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Lib Dem foreign affairs spokesman Sir Menzies Campbell said coalition forces had given Iraq the opportunity to govern themselves.
“They must take it,” he said. “We cannot take it for them.”
He told the Lib Dem conference in Bournemouth Britain had a moral responsibility to stay in Iraq for now because the Government had taken it to war. That responsibility was so acute, troops had no option but to stay. He said that could mean sending out more soldiers now to ensure the safety of troops already on the ground.
But he said no obligation could be “open-ended and without limit of time”.He called for the phased withdrawal of British troops as soon as a democratically elected government was in office.

In a scathing attack on the Government over the war, Sir Menzies said he was angry “not because I was deceived over Iraq, but because we were right”.He told delegates the war had cost Britain respect across the world.“Around the world Britain is associated with unilateralism in Iraq and double standards in the Middle East,” he said.
“Trust in the Prime Minister has fallen at home. Trust in Britain has fallen abroad.”Sir Menzies said terrorism had to be confronted.
“But behaving ourselves with principle in international affairs is a necessary part of a robust response to terrorism.”

Sir Menzies, also the party’s deputy leader, pointed to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan’s assertion that the war was illegal, and to newspaper leaks saying regime change was always the objective.
“We know all these things now. But the British public did not know them when it took to the streets in protest. “And the House of Commons did not know it when it voted to endorse military action in March 2003.”He also called for a re-evaluation of Britain’s relationship with the USA saying it would be a better ally if it exercised “critical judgment and independent thought”.
“Our relationship with the United States should be a partnership of influence and should not be so subordinate that we appear to be subservient.”

http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=3522395

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