London, Jan 25, IRNA ,The British government has accepted that there is a “litany of issues” to be addressed in holding an inquiry into the Iraq war but insists that the time is still not ripe to do so.
“The position of this government is that indeed a time may come – and I suspect definitively will come – when such an inquiry is necessary. But we would still maintain that we have not yet reached it now,” Foreign Office Minister Lord Malloch-Brown said.
“We owe it to ourselves and everyone who was involved in this venture that when we come to offer such analysis it will stand the test of time and be seen, as has been asked for here, as objective and fair,” Malloch-Brown said in arguing for a further delay.
The minister was speaking during a renewed call for a fully independent inquiry into the Iraq war, led by former Conservative cabinet minister Lord Fowler during a parliamentary debate on Thursday.
“We are approaching the fifth anniversary of the beginning of the conflict when the troops went in. How many years will we have to wait before the Government believe that the time is ripe?” Fowler asked.
But Malloch-Brown said the government accepted that there was “clearly a need to establish as definitively as possible the facts” on so many issues.
This, he listed, as including the causes of the war and the circumstances under which the UK entered into, the use or improper use of intelligence, whether it was fought with sufficient troops, post-war decisions and operational responsibility.
“How permanent are the gains in security … How real are the economic gains …. How effective is reconstruction … Will the military and security improvements be followed by real political progress?” the minister suggested were also some of the questions.