UK may help Iraq government with counter-terrorism expertise – Hague
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Version 0 of 1. Britain may provide counter-terrorism expertise to the Iraqi government, the foreign secretary, William Hague, has said. However, he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme on Monday that he did not want to go into details of the precise help on offer at this stage because that could make it more difficult to operate. Iraqi security forces needed to work with all forces in the region, including the Kurdistan regional government, he said. "It is really a time for cooperation and unity," he said, adding that recent events had shown the need for Iraqis – Sunni, Shia and Kurds – to work together. Hague said: "The evidence is there for all to see what happens in the absence of cooperation. It leaves a political and military opening for extremists." He said: "We are not planning a military intervention in this situation. I cannot be clearer than that. The US is much more likely to have the assets and capabilities of any outside intervention than the UK." Asked whether Britain would ever intervene militarily, he said: "We did have a bad experience of being defeated in the Commons but I do not think … people should conclude from that that the House of Commons is never prepared to authorise military action. That would be a misreading of parliament." He rejected the accusation that the invasion of Iraq in 2003 was a mistake, saying: "I have always thought that many mistakes were made in the aftermath. It is entirely possible to say it was the right thing to remove Saddam Hussein, but that mistakes were made in the aftermath. "It is possible to argue that western intervention makes things worse and it is possible to argue that the absence of western intervention makes things worse. Foreign policy is the fine judgment between those things. It is only right when it is a last resort or where it has limited objectives where there is a very comprehensive regional plan to go with it." |