Blair refuses to back down over withdrawal from Iraq

Tony Blair

UK Prime Minister Tony Blair has said Britain will not be bounced into a premature withdrawal of its troops from Iraq despite mounting pressure for him to change his strategy.

In the Commons, the Prime Minister hinted that a pull-out could begin within 18 months.

But later his official spokesman insisted there had been no change of policy and that the Government would not set an "arbitrary deadline."

Blair came under fire from both the Tory and Liberal Democrat leaders following the call last week by General Sir Richard Dannatt, the Chief of the General Staff, for British troops to be recalled soon.

In a sign of the Prime Minister's increasing isolation, David Cameron edged the Opposition another step away from its initial support for the Government's actions in Iraq by highlighting the differences between General Dannatt's remarks and Blair's.

The Tory leader said the Head of the Army had called on the Government to lower its ambition to create a liberal democracy in Iraq and said that the presence of British troops could exacerbate the situation.

He told Blair: "We support the elected government of Iraq and we all want to get the job done. But when you say we are going to get the job done we need to know what you mean. It's no use having you say one thing and the Chief of the General Staff say another thing."

The Prime Minister replied: "It's our policy to withdraw progressively from Iraq as the Iraqi forces are capable of taking on the security task."

He appeared to acknowledge that the presence of British troops could make matters worse in some circumstances.

"It's important that when we are able to hand over to them, that we do so. Otherwise, of course, we are a provocation rather than a help to them."

Blair accused Cameron of moving away from the bi-partisan approach to Iraq -- a charge later denied by the Tories.

"I don't want to dismay our allies or hearten our enemies by suggesting we will do anything other than stay until the job is done," he said.

Urging MPs to back moderates and democrats against extremists and terrorists, he added: "If we desert the Iraqi Government now, at the very time when it is building up the forces, so that the Iraqi forces can take over security, [it] would be a gross dereliction of our duty to it."

Sir Menzies Campbell, the Liberal Democrat leader, chided the Tories for changing their tune after supporting the 2003 war.

He told Blair that his Commons answers were not borne out by events on the ground, with 3,000 Iraqi civilians being killed every month.

Citing doubts expressed among political and military figures on both sides of the Atlantic, Sir Menzies said there was only one conclusion -- that the Government's strategy had failed.

"In those circumstances, the choice is stark -- change the strategy or else get out," he said.

Despite their growing misgivings, most Labour MPs rallied behind Blair, who bounced back after what he admits privately was his worst-ever performance at Prime Minister's Questions a week earlier.

But with increasing questions being asked in the United States about President George Bush's strategy in Iraq, there is mounting pressure from MPs for all parties for a full-scale Commons debate on Mr Blair's approach.

- INDEPENDENT