The Gulf Dialogue, Bahrain, 2-4 December 2005
Address by the Rt Hon John Reid MP, Secretary of State for Defence, UK (transcript) – 4 December 2005.
Thank you very much John, Minister Al Anazi, colleagues, friends, your excellencies.
Can I first of all say how much I welcome the opportunity to come here to speak, to discuss, to debate, on the odd occasion to argue, but most importantly to listen to what people have to say.
It struck me as I came to this conference that there is an old song in my country which encourages us all to have a degree of humility when we visit others whose culture may be different from ours and who have much to teach us. The words of it are: ‘well the strangers came and tried to teach us their way, they blamed us just for being what we are, but they might as well go chasing after moonbeams, or try to light a penny candle from a star’. And that is the words of one of the nations that make up the United Kingdom, and when people get irritated or frustrated with the slowness of progress in Iraq, at the difficulties of bringing together in a constitution, in a settlement, parties who have been at odds with each other, Sunni, Shia, Kurds, and people in my county sometimes feel that the two yeas that we have spent trying to do that is a very long time, I remind them that in my country, the United Kingdom – with the Scots, the Welsh, the English, and perhaps, above all, the Irish – it has not taken us two years or indeed two centuries but it has taken about 300 years to find the devolution settlement with people like me, the Scots, and just over 800 years with the Irish, and we’re not quite finished there yet. So we should approach these problems with a degree of humility when we come from outside. And it is in that humility that I offer you some thoughts today, John, on the international perspectives of the situation in Iraq, and I want to start with that global context.
I think there are three important great phenomena that are occurring in the world that set the context for what is happening in Iraq, and that is why it is important that we come together to listen and learn at this time.
The first phenomena is that the rate of change in our world is faster than ever before. Of course the only constant in human experience is change, but it is that rate of change, including the rate of human experience and learning, which is occurring at a faster rate than ever before. The more I consider history, the more is strikes me that the process of human learning has never been the monopoly of one country or one country or one civilisation but rather a sequence throughout history of civilisations giving to each other and borrowing from each other and sharing with each other and that is a process that has not run its course. And as we consider that, the rate of that change is so great that we now need to share more than ever. When we remember that we have been around on this planet for around 500,000 years, and yet half of all our knowledge has been gained in the last 50 years – half in the first 500,000 and half in the last 50 – we get an idea of the urgency of sharing learning and experience together because of that rate of change.
The second phenomena is that learning expands exponentially is that the world is shrinking in contrast to the growth of our knowledge. Advances in transport and above all telecommunications mean that what were to each of us far distant lands are now lands and people and experiences which are in our homes every evening because of television, radio or the internet. So none of us can now turn our eyes away from the plights, the sufferings, or the challenges, of others. Human disasters, diseases, war, death, and successes, are brought home to us every evening in a way that ensures that none of us can look away. And thus we are living in a fast changing world where literally billions of stories are now becoming one story, a world that is increasingly interdependent and smaller. More than ever, what threatens one of us threatens all of us, in this interdependent world, and more than ever too, and this is the third change: the question of security is much more now than just a question of military hardware, or military defence. Now in this context, of a fast changing world, which is shrinking rapidly and becoming more interdependent, we require more wisdom that ever before, and more courage than ever before.
And I want to start today, if I might, by recognising the courage of those who are risking their lives and sometimes giving their lives, to protect the self determination of the Iraqi people. You would expect me to remember my own troops, British soldiers, sailors and airmen who are risking and who have given their lives – almost one hundred of them now. You would expect me to remember also our multinational allies and the biggest group there the Americans who, 48 hours ago, lost ten more brave soldiers. But this year, I have to recall also the heroism and the sacrifice of the Iraqi security forces. They lost lives yesterday again. This is a phenomena which last year perhaps was not as regular. In some way that is a greater tragedy now, but in other ways it is also a greater testimony to the fact that Iraqi security forces are now taking on roles, risks, sacrifices and dangers to protect their own country’s democracy which even a year or two years ago they were not in a position to do. So, we pay our respects to them, but we also at this forum pay our respects to the many innocent civilians across the world who have been murdered by terrorism. This is a struggle which cannot be solved inside any country because the national is now mingling with the international in the threat which faces us, and is a threat which also crosses the borders, from those in uniform and those who are going about their life, innocent pilgrims, children – many of them, tragically, Muslims. So we remember all of those murdered by terrorism, most recently those murdered in Amman, in Jordan. We salute all of these, therefore, military and civilian, who are engaged, sometimes unconsciously, inadvertently, in this struggle.
However, though courage is important, it is the case, as the French general – I always like to make some laudatory comment on our colleagues the French – as the French general Napoleon once remarked, the chief characteristic of an effective soldier is not courage, it is endurance. It is consistency, it is the capacity to keep going towards an objective when things look difficult and things look grim. And it is that courage, combined with endurance, that marks the good soldier but it also marks the great peoples and the great nations of the world. Endurance, and sustained commitment in the face of adversity is needed, not only in Iraq, but by all of us to establish security and lasting stability. We need courage and endurance, but we also need understanding and wisdom. In facing up to the terrorists we have demonstrated that we are prepared to use necessary force and the preparedness to use necessary force, military means, fighting power, is a necessary condition in order for us to succeed. But it is not a sufficient condition in order to ensure that we will succeed. It is not just force that is needed to defeat this scourge of terrorism. It is aid, trade, development and a political will to tackle some of the underlying political problems, the perceived injustice, the perceived exploitation and the experience of poverty in so many directions that need to be tackled as a concomitant of the preparedness to use military power. And unless we understand that, we will not be successful. And there is another side to that complex coin of addressing security and it is this: not all opponents should be lumped together, and certainly not all opponents should be lumped together under the heading of international terrorism. Just because someone does not agree with me, or you, does not mean that they are in the same camp as our most bitter enemy – the international terrorist. And in those general contexts, let’s begin to look at Iraq.
There are many measures of stability, but one of the marks of success is and will be political inclusion. And inclusion that ensures that the interests of minorities in the new Iraq are respected. No one asks anyone else to try to forget the decades of pain, of misery, of death and tragedies that were inflicted on so many under the Saddam regime. It would be foolish to ask, human experience is such that we do not easily forget those things. However, it would be a mistake to simply lump together all opposition – even to the legitimate government of Iraq, which we hope has been established and will be established even more strongly for four years on the 15 December – to lump them together as international terrorists. Some of them indeed are; some of them are irreconcilable imported terrorists; some of them are elements of the former regime, the fascist regime, that inflicted so much damage on the Iraqi people, the Iraqi economy, on civil society. But many with whom we are engaged in debate, discussion or perhaps opposition actually hold grievances which derive from their own experience of economic or social deprivation, others may feel politically isolated, and yet others may feel that they have been let down by unfulfilled promises. If these groups are reconcilable with democracy they should form part of the focus for nation building, and just as we hand the iron fist of military and fighting power against the irreconcilable, so we should extend the hand of political possibility, potential and friendship, to those who are willing to engage on the political road. So of course there are those, as the minister was saying, who deliberately misinterpret Islamic teachings to justify their murderous actions, and these people will never form a part of the new Iraq. But there is a much wider community which can be formed in opposition to the irreconcilable terrorist, and we would be failing in common-sense and wisdom as well as in our efforts to defeat terrorism, if we did not engage that wider community. That is why, colleagues, I very much welcome the fact that the international community is putting aside many of the past differences over Iraq, not to say that any of us need concede that we were right or wrong, or that others were mistaken, but putting those disagreements behind us now, and looking towards the future in a wider international partnership. And that is why I welcome so much, for instance, the Arab League’s initiative to promote national dialogue. I think there is a growing understanding that regional Arab involvement is an essential part of the solution, and that a failure to engage would leave a vacuum for others to exploit.
And I say one thing from my own personal experience as a Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, that a process of developing democracy and political partnership is rather like riding a bicycle. As long as it is moving forward then it will reach its objective. The moment it stops, and allows a gap to intervene, people fall off the bike. So keep that process of partnership, and discussion and dialogue, moving forward. I also say this, that on this question which minister Al Anazi mentioned, about the mis-interpretation of Islam. That is not something I can address. That is something that can only be done by Muslims themselves, engaged in discussion, confronting on the basis of values which are intrinsic to Islam, those who would misuse Islam. And I say that on all of these fronts because the new Iraq will need assistance and advice from all of her neighbours and friends in the Arab states to improve their governance capacity and their economy. Now is the time for wider international partnership to step forward and take action to support the Iraqi people and their new government. And there is a very simple message. It is that by our common endeavour, by working together, we will achieve much more than we ever could separately, or the Iraqi people ever could on their own.
I make one comment regarding the minister’s reference to the press. I think minister Al Anazi referred to the press in the Arab world and perhaps in the Muslim world, this is another thing we have in common, because I can tell him that however sincere and courageous many of the journalists in the western media are – and I recognise the bravery and commitment of those journalists who risk their lives on a daily basis – I sometimes have to question the judgement of their editors in giving an unbalanced picture of what is happening in Iraq itself. Of course we face and more importantly the Iraqi people face great challenges. Of course it is difficult. But there is much more to report which is positive, which very rarely appears in our newspapers.
The fact is, that despite all of the efforts of the terrorists, we are beginning to make real progress in helping the Iraqi people themselves rebuild the security forces, and lay the foundations for the regeneration of Iraq’s social and economic infrastructure. I visited Iraq again two days ago, and saw first hand again the way in which the international forces are working with Iraqis to build sustainable institutions. I spent some time with the 10th Division of the Iraqi army under General Latif, which is increasing not only in numbers, but in capability and in training, and in leadership and headquarters to the extent that it is reasonable to expect that in the course of the next year there will be further advances.
And of course there are advances in democracy, as well in building the security forces to defend them. Preparations are now underway for the elections to be held in 11 days time, and once again the Iraqi citizens will be able to exercise their democratic rights to determine the future of their country. I say to people in my own country in the West: yes, it is difficult to build democracy in Iraq; yes, it is difficult, it takes courage to come out and vote; yes, in order to exercise self-determination the Iraqi people are having to face bombs, bullets, threats of death, but they still turned out in the referendum, with a 64% turnout – in greater numbers than people turned out in the British General Election. And that says something both for the courage of the Iraqi people and for the democratic institutions which are being built. But we all know that democracy is not just elections; elections are not the end point. Democracy is a process that needs to be continual, needs to be experienced and needs to be learned. And when a country has had decades of dictatorship it should not surprise us that it will take some time, perhaps years, to establish the pillars of a democratic state and civil society and to learn in the bases of the historical experience of Iraq itself, their practice of democracy, the habits of the heart and the mind in the whole population. So there has been advances on, I think on security forces, advances on democracy, but there is one other area which is of course important.
We may meet here, Chair, and discuss the great issues of the world, the great currents which are changing the world. But for the vast majority of people here, in Iraq, in my own country, their world is what thy see when they open their eyes in the morning, or when they open their door of their own home onto their own streets. It is that experience that shapes people’s perception of the world. So while we can talk about the great changes and ambitions of world events we should never forget that. In Iraq, reconstruction efforts are delivering some results for people in changing their local world. The seemingly slow regeneration of essential services, such as electricity, is nevertheless a huge task. Massive underinvestment over the past 35 years has left the system creaking, and incapable of delivering all that is needed – incapable of meeting the heightened expectations of the Iraqi people which occurred with the fall of the dictator. But despite security problems, and of course just as we are tying to help the Iraqis build security, democracy, the economy and civil society, the terrorists are trying to destroy all three of those areas. But despite those, improvements to water and sanitation systems are being made. 1.25m more Iraqis have access to drinkable water than before the conflict; 9.6m more have access now to a sewerage system; schools and hospitals have been constructed and rehabilitated seeing more than 30,000 teachers and healthcare professionals trained and over 3,000 schools rehabilitated. The Iraqi economy is going, and it is growing, and given time and security I am absolutely certain that the Iraqi people will flourish in business. But of course it is slower than it ought to be because of the activity of the terrorists and people are telling us – and I have no doubt they are telling the minister day in and day out – that they need more jobs, a better life, better services, more electricity, some little comforts in a world which has been difficult and continues to be difficult. And I say to everyone here, and to every government represented that now is the time the international community has to deliver on donor promises, including on debt relief. If we truly want Iraqi men, women and children to have a better life then we have an obligation upon us to make sure that we provide the resources to match the courage which they are showing.
Let me come to perhaps the most difficult area for all of us, which is the presence in Iraq, in this region, of multinational forces. I would remind us all at the beginning that, whatever the controversies of a few years ago, multinational forces remain in Iraq at the invitation of the Iraqi government underpinned by a unanimous, unanimous, United Nations Security Council Resolution 1637, passed only a few weeks ago, building on United Nations Security Council Resolution 1547. And I make it absolutely clear, to anyone who cares to listen, that we in the United Kingdom, and I am sure this is true of our allies and colleagues as well, we have no ambition beyond wanting to see Iraq and the Iraqi people themselves become a stable, peaceful and democratic country. Iraqis are no different from anyone else They want and are entitled to self-determination. They do not like to see foreign troops on their soil and of course they want to be able to provide their own security. But they can’t yet do that, and it is Iraqis themselves, and their democratically elected leaders, who recognise that. That is why our policy is so heavily slanted to training the Iraqi security forces and to give them the means to do the jobs themselves. And just as I make it absolutely clear that we have no ambition to stay there beyond the period where the Iraqi people want and need us I also say this, that until that time comes, we have to and will maintain a military presence on the ground if that is what is wished and wanted and needed by the Iraqi people and their elected representatives. There is progress being made to the period during which that much waited for handover could take place. 12 months ago, multinational forces carried out the majority of operations in Iraq. Today, there are about 40 Iraqi battalions capable of leading operations, either independently or with coalition support. And Iraqi security forces now participate in more than 75% of operations. Witness the fact that the Iraqi security forces have lost so many lives even in the last few days in countering the threats to their country’s security and the threats to their democracy. The process of handing over security responsibility to Iraqi civilian authorities has already started in some areas and I believe will become increasingly evident next year. This will mark a watershed and send a clear signal to the terrorists that their attacks are futile, not against the guns or the armour of the multinational forces, but against the will of the Iraqi people, because it is that will, that spirit, that essence of the desire of the Iraqis themselves to create, shape and defend their own self-determination of their own future which will ultimately defeat the will of the terrorists. And that’s why it is so important that the vast majority of Iraqis support the efforts of their security forces and want them to succeed. We want them to succeed too, as capable, well trained, confident and well-disciplined force for the people of Iraq. The security forces, like civil and democratic society, must be representative of the people. And it must work for the benefit of all Iraqis, irrespective of their background. In the future, there can be no room for separate militias in Iraq.
Now John, the Gulf region in particular, I believe, will benefit from a peaceful and stable Iraq. Whatever role we choose to play, whether it is deploying troops to Iraq, or providing humanitarian support directly to Iraqi women and children, we are all in this together, every single person in this room, in this world, which is increasingly interdependent. And it is only by working together that we will build the positive, and it is only by maximising our effort together that we will ensure the maximum possibility of defeating terrorism. So I believe that this is precisely the time that we come together in this conference for the wider international community to increase its efforts to support the new government to develop a stable Iraq at peace with itself and the international community. Politically, Iraq has made real progress. But I have no illusions about the challenges to come. It is often the case that the more the Iraqis themselves are successful in building their own democracy and reaching that stage where it becomes so entrenched and embedded that there will be no reversal, it is at that stage that the efforts of the terrorists will become more frenetic, because they recognise the urgency of them trying to defeat the efforts of the Iraqis themselves. So as things get better, sometimes the activities of the terrorists get worse. As we build the security forces in Iraq, as they become more capable and more trained, what does the terrorist do? It turns away to softer targets, it murders people approaching the mosque, children eating sweets or candies, civilians, tourists, ordinary working people are massacred. People, they’re not Americans, they’re not British, they’re not uniformed, they’re not foreigners, they hold no high position. They are just ordinary human beings wanting a decent stable life. So as things get better, as the building goes on, of democracy and security so the efforts of the terrorists may in the short term get even worse, in an attempt to bring that down. But politically, they will not stop that progress. It is the Iraqi people that will ultimately defeat them, and that is why they deserve our support, our friendship, and sacrifice.
And as I come to the end, let me just say, John, that just as the people of Iraq must work together to defeat terrorism, so the region I believe needs to come together as well, to promote peace and stability. This isn’t always easy, but I promise you this, that if we can help, we in the United Kingdom, our government and our people, will do everything we possibly can. We will do that to help you as a sovereign state, as a friend and ally of many in the region. We will do it through out counsels, we will do it though our support, we will do it through NATO, we will do it through the United Nations, and we will do it through the European Union. The European Union, of course, has had to work hard to develop its security role, but I am very proud that during the British presidency of the European Union we have been able to provide practical support to those who are trying to make the transition from war, combat or division, to one of stability and partnership in many parts of the world. Most recently in Aceh, in Indonesia, at the invitation of ASEAN, or in Darfur, or the Congo, at the invitation of the African Union, or perhaps most recently and most proudly, at the invitation of the Palestinians and the Egyptians in acting as monitors on the border between Gaza and Egypt and unlocking for the first time that door from the Palestinians into the wider world. We will continue to do that where we can, where we are wanted, where we are needed and where we are asked. But ultimately, everyone in this region will be the people who shape and determine your own future. Here in the Gulf region, I believe there are encouraging signs of a much more concerted approach, through the initiatives of the Arab League and the Organisation of Islamic States Conference – I congratulate Saudi Arabia on that initiative – and I hope also this conference as well. I hope that this Gulf Dialogue conference will not be the last, I hope that it will play its part in the new and ever more constructive response to the challenging security environment. I would like therefore to thank the IISS for organising the event, and particularly our Bahraini hosts, for their hospitality, their courtesy and the efforts they have made to bring us all together here. It is time, because as I said before, and I repeat in conclusion, by our common endeavour we can do so much more than we ever could do separately. I believe it is now time to bring cooperation together, maximise the efforts in this area of the common endeavour of the peoples and governments of the Gulf area, and I believe that this conference is another major step in that common endeavour and therefore a major step towards reconciling the differences which have brought us so many challenges in Iraq and the surrounding area.
Thank you very much for your invitation.
