Iraq: Future Strategic Relationship

The United Kingdom has paid a high price to remove Saddam and help to build a better Iraq. British forces have been in Iraq for 2,126 days. We have lost 178 of our brave soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines, and hundreds more have been wounded. The long-term psychological impact on the members of our armed forces is virtually unknown, and the British taxpayer has paid out more than £6.5 billion since the invasion in 2003. But when we consider that steep price, we must not forget that under the brutal and authoritarian rule of Saddam Hussein, Iraq invaded three of its neighbours, fired Scud missiles at five of its neighbours and killed hundreds of thousands of its own citizens and Iranians with chemical weapons. As my right hon. Friend the Member for North-East Hampshire (Mr. Arbuthnot) has said, history did not begin in 2003. It is hard to believe that anyone still believes that the Iraqi people, the region or the world would have been better off with Saddam still in power. Yet those who believe that the invasion should not have taken place must believe that to be so—I do not believe that and never have.