Britain is embroiled in a fresh conflict with Iraq as it battles to quash global terrorism for ever, British Prime Minister Tony Blair declared in a stark relabeling of the situation on Sunday.
Sixteen months after US President George W. Bush declared that combat operations were over, the British prime minister used a joint press conference with his Iraqi counterpart, Ayad Allawi, to say that coalition forces were engaged in a "new conflict" now that the "first conflict" to remove former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein was over. But the battleground of this fight was global terrorism versus "the side of democracy and liberty."
"Whatever the disagreements about the first conflict in Iraq to remove Saddam, in this conflict now taking place in Iraq, this is the crucible in which the future of this global terrorism will be decided.
"Either it will succeed and this terrorism will grow, or we will succeed, the Iraqi people will succeed and this global terrorism will be delivered a huge defeat," he said.
Blair's fresh presentation of the chaos engulfing parts of Iraq came as the head of the UK army, General Sir Mike Jackson, admitted that British troops were now fighting "a counterinsurgency war."
With 300 people killed last week, including three Kurdish hostages beheaded yesterday, he said: "August was a very busy month and British soldiers were involved in war fighting."
The relabeling -- described by the Foreign Office as a "new language" -- also comes a week before the Labour conference, at which Blair can expect to face his party's fury at his handling of the conflict.
A YouGov poll at the weekend suggested that support for the conflict is at its lowest. A mere 38 percent of people now believe the war was right, and 52 percent think it was wrong, compared with 66 percent who supported the war, and 29 percent who opposed it, when US troops entered Baghdad on April 10 last year. Women in particular appear to have withdrawn their support, with only 30 percent thinking troops should remain, compared with 47 percent of men.
Blair adopted a conciliatory tone, insisting he did not want to prevent debate over "the wisdom of removing Saddam" and acknowledging the conflict had been "deeply divisive."
But he insisted every "sensible and decent person" should move on and recognize that the terrorists and insurgents were opposed to "every single one of the values we in countries like this hold dear."
"Now is not the time for the international community to divide or disagree but to come together ... and realize that the struggle of the prime minister and the Iraqi people, for liberty and democracy and stability, is actually our struggle too."
He rejected suggestions that the coalition and Iraqi forces were already losing the war against terror, but -- acknowledging there was "a real fight going on" -- indicated the scale of their difficulty.
"If we succeed in Iraq that's a huge blow to this form of terrorism. If we don't, then of course it's very serious.
"We are fighting and we will succeed because our determination and belief in our values is greater than the terrorists', and we are going to win."
Speaking at the Downing Street press conference, Allawi appeared more defiant than Blair in predicting "success against the forces of evil." He called for greater UN involvement, but insisted the January elections would go ahead, despite the continuing carnage.
"We are adamant democracy is going to prevail in Iraq," he said.
LANDMARK CASE: ‘Every night we were dragged to US soldiers and sexually abused. Every week we were forced to undergo venereal disease tests,’ a victim said More than 100 South Korean women who were forced to work as prostitutes for US soldiers stationed in the country have filed a landmark lawsuit accusing Washington of abuse, their lawyers said yesterday. Historians and activists say tens of thousands of South Korean women worked for state-sanctioned brothels from the 1950s to 1980s, serving US troops stationed in country to protect the South from North Korea. In 2022, South Korea’s top court ruled that the government had illegally “established, managed and operated” such brothels for the US military, ordering it to pay about 120 plaintiffs compensation. Last week, 117 victims
China on Monday announced its first ever sanctions against an individual Japanese lawmaker, targeting China-born Hei Seki for “spreading fallacies” on issues such as Taiwan, Hong Kong and disputed islands, prompting a protest from Tokyo. Beijing has an ongoing spat with Tokyo over islands in the East China Sea claimed by both countries, and considers foreign criticism on sensitive political topics to be acts of interference. Seki, a naturalised Japanese citizen, “spread false information, colluded with Japanese anti-China forces, and wantonly attacked and smeared China”, foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian told reporters on Monday. “For his own selfish interests, (Seki)
Argentine President Javier Milei on Sunday vowed to “accelerate” his libertarian reforms after a crushing defeat in Buenos Aires provincial elections. The 54-year-old economist has slashed public spending, dismissed tens of thousands of public employees and led a major deregulation drive since taking office in December 2023. He acknowledged his party’s “clear defeat” by the center-left Peronist movement in the elections to the legislature of Buenos Aires province, the country’s economic powerhouse. A deflated-sounding Milei admitted to unspecified “mistakes” which he vowed to “correct,” but said he would not be swayed “one millimeter” from his reform agenda. “We will deepen and accelerate it,” he
Japan yesterday heralded the coming-of-age of Japanese Prince Hisahito with an elaborate ceremony at the Imperial Palace, where a succession crisis is brewing. The nephew of Japanese Emperor Naruhito, Hisahito received a black silk-and-lacquer crown at the ceremony, which marks the beginning of his royal adult life. “Thank you very much for bestowing the crown today at the coming-of-age ceremony,” Hisahito said. “I will fulfill my duties, being aware of my responsibilities as an adult member of the imperial family.” Although the emperor has a daughter — Princess Aiko — the 23-year-old has been sidelined by the royal family’s male-only
RSS