Watch the Prime Minister deliver his statement in Parliament
Read the transcript of the Prime Minister’s statement below
With permission Mr Speaker, I shall make a Statement on the NATO Summit in Istanbul and also briefly report on the special European Council in Brussels last night.
I thank the new NATO Secretary General, Mr de Hoop Scheffer, for his Chairmanship of the NATO Summit, and President Sezer and Prime Minister Erdogan of Turkey for hosting it. I am placing copies of the Summit Declaration in the Library of the House.
We were joined in Istanbul by NATO’s seven new members from Central Europe. They bring a renewed perspective to the Alliance. Their recent history of repression makes their attachment to security, freedom and democracy that much keener.
We were also joined by NATO’s partners: Russia, Ukraine, and others from across Eastern Europe and Central Asia. We endorsed capabilities targets to ensure we make the best use of NATO forces. We supported the further reform of NATO’s structures to adapt the Alliance to the new threats we face. We agreed to end the NATO Mission in Bosnia, SFOR, at the end of the year and committed to a successful handover to an EU force.
However, the two main issues on the NATO agenda were Iraq and Afghanistan.
The Summit opened just as the new Iraqi interim government assumed full authority and sovereignty in Iraq.
Politically, Iraq now has a broad-based and representative Government; a time-table and a process for Iraq’s first democratic elections; a new constitution guaranteeing basic freedoms and the rule of law; a devolved system of government- almost all towns now have municipal councils and those that have been elected are largely secular; and guaranteed protection of minority rights.
This is in place of a dictatorship that brutalised the people and ransacked the country.
Economically, Iraq now has an open economy with an independent central bank. A real budgetary process. A new and stable currency. A start has been made to re-build Iraq’s hugely damaged and under-invested in infrastructure - a process which will now continue under the guidance of the new Iraqi Government.
This is in place of an economy where a country rich in resources had 60 per cent of its population dependant on food vouchers.
Britain can be proud, as a country, of the part we and in particular our magnificent armed forces played in bringing this about. We also express our deep condolences to the family of Fusilier Gordon Gentle and to all those who have lost their lives in this struggle.
We should pay tribute too, to the many British public servants, policemen and women and volunteers, led so ably by David Richmond, the UK Special Representative, who played crucial roles in helping the Iraqi people rebuild their lives, under difficult and stressful conditions. Her Majesty The Queen has graciously agreed that their extraordinary contribution should be recognised with the award of a special civilian medal.
But there is one overwhelming central challenge that remains in Iraq: security. Former Saddam supporters, and increasingly terrorists from outside of Iraq linked to Al Qaeda see this progress in Iraq and its potential and hate all it represents. They are therefore killing as many innocent people as they can, trying to destroy oil and power supplies and create chaos, so that the path to stability and democracy is blocked.
In Istanbul, the Iraqi Government requested NATO’s help with the training of the new Iraqi security forces. NATO agreed it. The crucial task is now to put in place the training, leadership and equipment to give Iraqi police, civil defence and armed forces the capability to take on the terrorists and beat them. The determination of the new Iraqi Government is inspirational. But the challenge especially around Baghdad is formidable. Nonetheless, I hope by the end of July the Iraqi Government and the MNF will agree and publish plans to ensure over time that this capability exists.
There is nothing more important to the stability of Iraq or that of the wider region. Britain, the US and the rest of the former Coalition will remain dedicated to helping the Iraqi people in this task.
In addition, NATO as a whole will urgently consider further proposals to support the nascent Iraqi security institutions in response to Prime Minister Allawi’s request.
In respect of Afghanistan, President Karzai gave a typically forceful presentation both on the progress made in that country over the last two years and on the huge challenges that remain to be overcome. President Karzai said that over 5 million Afghans have now registered to vote in the September elections: 3.5 million refugees have now returned to Afghanistan; and 3 million girls are in school. Living standards are rising and the economy is growing by 20 per cent a year.
But again terrorists, with the same intent as in Iraq, stand in the way.
NATO agreed to expand ISAF’s role outside Kabul, with Provincial Reconstruction Teams to help build Afghan force capability. Some are already set up in the north. The UK is providing two. The next stage will be to establish similar teams in the rest of the country too.
In addition we agreed a package of support for the upcoming elections in Afghanistan, including a role for the NATO Response Force.
Finally on Afghanistan, we now have stability in the command of ISAF for the years ahead. We have offered to provide the UK-led Allied Rapid Reaction Corps, one of NATO’s high-readiness headquarters, to lead ISAF in 2006.
The role which NATO is playing in Afghanistan and the new role it is taking on in Iraq reflect the new security challenges we face. Our adversary is no longer the Soviet Union but terrorism and unstable states, who deal in chemical, biological and nuclear weapons, and the possibility of the two coming together.
Both Iraq and Afghanistan face the same struggle for democracy and freedom.
Both were used as terrorist bases and both were horrific examples of repression organised and promoted by their governments whilst their people were deprived of even the most basic dignity and human rights. Both now have the hope of a new dawn but are confronted by the remnants of the past they seek to escape.
Let us be quite plain about what is at stake. If we succeed, the Iraqi and Afghan people prosper, their states become valued partners in the international community, the propaganda of the terrorists that our purpose is to wage war on or dominate Muslims is exposed for the evil nonsense it is. Should we fail, those countries would sink back into degradation, threaten their neighbours and the world, and become again a haven for terrorism.
The terrorism we face is not confined now to any one continent let alone any one country. From Saudi Arabia to the cities of Europe, it is there, active and planning. Since September 11 2001 in New York we have known its potency. So what now happens in Iraq and Afghanistan affects us here as it does every nation, supportive or not of the actions we have taken.
NATO’s focus on these issues shows at least a start to understanding this threat and its implications. But I worry that our response is still not sufficient to the scale of the challenge we face.
I repeat what I said at the NATO Plenary Session: this threat can’t be defeated by security means alone. It also needs us to focus on the causes of it.
Progress on the Israeli-Palestinian issue remains a vital strategic necessity; as does the recognition that our ultimate security lies in the spread of our values - freedom, democracy and the rule of law. The more we can assist in the development of these values in the wider Middle East, in partnership with reform-minded governments and people, the better our long-term prospects of defeating this threat will be.
But the battle is here and now in Iraq and Afghanistan. Even for those who passionately disagreed with our decision to go to war, the issues are now clear, the side we should be on without doubt, the cause manifestly one worth winning. Succeeding in it would be a fitting way to reinvigorate the trans-Atlantic Alliance and heal its divisions.
Finally Mr Speaker, on the way back from Istanbul I attended a special European Council. It agreed the Portuguese Prime Minister, Jose Manuel Durao Barroso as the new Commission President. He is an excellent choice: committed to economic reform, committed to the trans-Atlantic Alliance, committed to an EU of nation states. It was a good finale to a brilliant Irish Presidency of Europe.
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