Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2014-07-16-Speech-3-263-000"
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"en.20140716.19.3-263-000"2
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"Mr President, like many colleagues I feel considerable emotion in any discussion about Iraq. I remember myself marching through the streets of Glasgow protesting ‘Not in my nameʼ in advance of the illegal invasion of Iraq by the coalition of the willing.
This motion takes some account of the other lifetimes cut short or blighted since that deep act of folly. According to the UN there are just in central and northern Iraq 1.2 million internally displaced persons and 1.5 million persons in urgent need of humanitarian assistance. The scale of the tragedy is as paralysing as the complexity itself.
But in our role as a European Union, as well as remembering how we got to where we are – and there should be no corner where we do not shine that light and no person we do not hold responsible for their actions – we have surely to try to attempt to plot a way out of the nightmare. In that effort I will limit myself to three points within this discussion: the role of the Kurds, the role of Iran and the role of Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States, though I do endorse the rest of the resolution, which I think has a lot to commend it and I commend the the spirit of cross-party working across this House in its production.
On the role of the Kurds, in recital F we note the actions of the Kurdish regional government in taking control, as Mr Tannock drew our attention to, of additional territory and we stopped just short of criticism of those actions. I think that is the right form of words. I think that is as realistic as it is pragmatic.
In recital G we acknowledge the limited success that the Kurds have had, and they do deserve credit for it in providing a safe haven and the burden that the many refugees they have cared for represents. But in point 11 of the resolution we remember our own principles. Any constitutional changes must, and I quote: ‘respect and uphold an inclusive process in respect of the rights of the non-Kurdish minorities living in the province’. This process will need to be supported by outside, by ourselves.
On the role of Iran and Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States in points 8 and 9 we call – and I think this is quite crucial – on the international community, especially ourselves, to facilitate a regional dialogue on the problems facing the Middle East and to include all significant parties. Iraqʼs neighbours cannot be viewed as distinct from it; they are actors within the conflagration under way and must be part of its solution as well as part of its current problems.
We cannot escape our role in how Iraq came to be where it is. We can shoulder our burden in helping them plot a way out of the nightmare."@en1
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