Briefing from the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman on: Iraq and PM Berlusconi.
Iraq
Asked for a reaction to the fact that the number of Coalition soldiers killed in Iraq since the end of the conflict now exceeded the number that had been killed during it, the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman (PMOS) said that the military operation against Saddam had been extremely successful - indeed, far more so than people had initially predicted. However, no one was under any illusion that, post-conflict, there wouldn’t be very considerable challenges and that the remnants of the regime wouldn’t continue to pose very real security threats to the Coalition. No one was pretending that there weren’t real security difficulties. However, it was important to recognise that Coalition forces were doing an extremely professional job. We acknowledged that there were particular problems in Baghdad and around the Tikrit triangle. However, in large parts of Iraq, something approaching normal life was returning. Moreover, it was important for people not to lose sight of the fact that under Saddam’s regime, thousands upon thousands of Iraqis had been killed. Asked if he was denying that the Coalition had under-estimated the post-war backlash, the PMOS said that we had always been realistic about the challenges that would face us and that there would be longer term issues in relation to dealing with the remnants of the regime. So that had proven. It was also the case that it appeared Iraq had attracted terrorists from outside the country who wished ill on both the Iraqi people and the Coalition. That too had posed problems. However, we were in this for the long term and were focussing on the prize of a prosperous, stable and secure Iraq for the Iraqi people by the Iraqi people. That would take time to achieve, but we would get there. This week had been difficult. As the Prime Minister had said in the House today, the atrocities on Sunday and Monday had been wicked and evil. Nevertheless, our resolve remained undiminished.
PM Berlusconi
Asked about the Prime Minister’s meeting with Prime Minister Berlusconi of Italy this afternoon, the PMOS said that the talks would cover a wide range of IGC-related issues, such as EU defence, QMV and our redlines. The meeting was an opportunity for the Prime Minister to explore different areas with the EU Presidency in more detail than he was able to do at European Councils. It was not a decision-making meeting. It was the EU Presidency doing what it what was meant to do, namely talk to European partners to try to reach consensus.
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