Kennedy: Iraq invasion 'terrible mistake' - US-UK 'part of problem'
ananova: Liberal Democrat leader Charles Kennedy called on Prime Minister Tony Blair to start bringing British troops home from Iraq.
He made the plea in his keynote speech to the Scottish party's autumn conference, saying the presence of soldiers in the country was no longer part of the solution but part of the problem.
Mr Kennedy was applauded by delegates in Glenrothes when he told them: "I think it's high time our troops began to come home, as simple as that."
He used his address to go on the attack on the issue of the war, saying: "It's absurd in my view for the Government to pretend that what took place in Iraq hasn't had an impact beyond the boundaries of that country.
"The reality is that the invasion, on the basis of which it was conducted, was a terrible mistake."
He added: "If you are going to take that kind of decision for Heaven's sake make sure you have got an exit strategy.
"To fail to plan properly for the aftermath, I think politically is the most unforgivable of all, because we have let down the very people the Government claimed we are there to liberate.
"The presence of British and American forces in Iraq is no longer part of the solution, it's part of the problem.
"We can not therefore sustain the myth any longer that the individual Iraqi citizen sees our presence as a liberating presence, they see it as an occupying presence and the Parliament of our country has got to face up to that fact."
Mr Kennedy called on Mr Blair to come up with an exit strategy and said: "It is time he lay before the Parliament a proper structured time table for responsibly phasing out and withdrawing our troops." Link
db: Unfortunately this will not make a blind bit of difference - Kennedy is a buffoon who has squandered any hope the Liberal Democrats had of making substantial gains during a period of time when the Conservatives have been is disarray and the Neo-Labour Party cabal exposed as contemptible liars and criminals. With the Tories in danger of appointing a leader that the British public might actually see as electable - fourth time lucky - the LD's are about to transition into another age of utter irrelevance lasting maybe twenty years. This call for a 'responsible' withdrawal/phasing out of the UK Iraq presence is about as significant as the same coming from the Transport and General Workers Union [no offence intended to the latter].
He made the plea in his keynote speech to the Scottish party's autumn conference, saying the presence of soldiers in the country was no longer part of the solution but part of the problem.
Mr Kennedy was applauded by delegates in Glenrothes when he told them: "I think it's high time our troops began to come home, as simple as that."
He used his address to go on the attack on the issue of the war, saying: "It's absurd in my view for the Government to pretend that what took place in Iraq hasn't had an impact beyond the boundaries of that country.
"The reality is that the invasion, on the basis of which it was conducted, was a terrible mistake."
He added: "If you are going to take that kind of decision for Heaven's sake make sure you have got an exit strategy.
"To fail to plan properly for the aftermath, I think politically is the most unforgivable of all, because we have let down the very people the Government claimed we are there to liberate.
"The presence of British and American forces in Iraq is no longer part of the solution, it's part of the problem.
"We can not therefore sustain the myth any longer that the individual Iraqi citizen sees our presence as a liberating presence, they see it as an occupying presence and the Parliament of our country has got to face up to that fact."
Mr Kennedy called on Mr Blair to come up with an exit strategy and said: "It is time he lay before the Parliament a proper structured time table for responsibly phasing out and withdrawing our troops." Link
db: Unfortunately this will not make a blind bit of difference - Kennedy is a buffoon who has squandered any hope the Liberal Democrats had of making substantial gains during a period of time when the Conservatives have been is disarray and the Neo-Labour Party cabal exposed as contemptible liars and criminals. With the Tories in danger of appointing a leader that the British public might actually see as electable - fourth time lucky - the LD's are about to transition into another age of utter irrelevance lasting maybe twenty years. This call for a 'responsible' withdrawal/phasing out of the UK Iraq presence is about as significant as the same coming from the Transport and General Workers Union [no offence intended to the latter].
posted by exoplanet at 7:25 AM
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