Tories ‘must admit Iraq was wrong’
The Conservatives must admit that the war in Iraq was a “serious mistake”, Malcolm Rifkind has argued.
The former foreign secretary said British troops should stay in the country to help restore order, but warned his party must not be “in denial” about the fact that taking military action against Saddam Hussein had helped terrorists in the region.
In an article in the New Statesman, Mr Rifkind also called on Tory leader David Cameron to come up with a proper Tory policy on the European Union based on more than “knee-jerk hostility”.
Noting the internal dissent over Labour’s foreign policy, particularly Tony Blair’s close relationship with US president George Bush, the Kensington and Chelsea MP said the Conservatives must spell out how they would provide an alternative.
“Put simply, we will need a foreign policy that is Conservative and not neo-Conservative, principled but not ideological, and rooted in the real world of cultural diversity and competing interests,” he said.
Mr Rifkind praised the prime minister’s “clarity” in analysing the threat posed by international terrorism, but warned that the Tories “should not accept Blair’s simplistic belief that all Muslim terrorism is part of a single plot”.
The war in Chechnya, for example, was between Chechen nationalists and Russian nationalists and, he argued, “not between terror and freedom”.
Crucially, Mr Rifkind said, the Conservatives must break with Mr Blair on Iraq: “There must be a clear recognition that the invasion of Iraq was a serious mistake that has helped the terrorists.
“It has also made Iran the power in the Gulf. While the government may be in denial, there is no need for the Conservative party to be.
“That does not mean, however, that British troops should be withdrawn from Iraq. It is essential that they remain there as long as their presence might help the Iraqis.”
He insisted the Tories should reject the Labour government’s support for pre-emptive wars, saying the UK should only take military action if it was attacked, if there was a “serious threat” to the international community or if a treaty obligation required it.
His comments will not be welcomed by the Tory leadership – in June, Mr Cameron made clear that although war in Iraq had been “very unpopular”, he still believed it was right to take action.
Mr Rifkind also warned the Tories had to do some “hard-thinking” on Europe – and said their current approach was unsatisfactory, “not because of our scepticism but our policy is defined by what we are against, rather than by a positive alternative of what we favour”.
The party’s attitude should be based on a serious analysis of the effect any new proposals for EU integration had on British interest, and “must cease to be merely a knee-jerk hostility”, he argued.
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