WHEN TO GO?

by RAY FLEMING
IT is tempting to try to simplify the situation in Iraq. Thus Britain and the United States believe that if Mr al-Jaafari, the currrent prime minister, were to resign and someone else put in his place, the task of forming a government of national unity would be made easier. Perhaps. But even when such a government exists the problem of containing and eliminating the insurgents who killed 900 Iraqi civilians in March will remain. In such circumstances when can UK and US forces leave Iraq? A survey of British opinion published yesterday in the Daily Telegraph showed that 24 per cent want an immediate withdrawal and a further 31 per cent withdrawal within one year. It would be over-optimistic to think that the killing will have stopped in one year despite the training of thousands of Iraqi security personnel.
UK & US RESPONSIBILITY
So should Britain and the US just walk away from the mess they have created?
Surely not. Even those totally opposed to the war should accept that its consequences are in substantial part a UK and US responsibility and that it would be a shameful dereliction of that responsibility to quit before the country has a reasonable prospect of stability. Of course, the Iraqi government can ask the Americans and British to leave at any time. But for this to happen there would have to be an effective and reasonably unified national government in existence, something which is lacking at the moment.