asked Her Majesty’s Government:
What is their response to the fatal attack on a British Armed Forces patrol boat near Basra on 12 November.
My Lords, I would first like to offer my sympathy and condolences to the families, friends and colleagues of those who were killed and injured in the attack of 12 November. My thoughts are with them. A service police investigation is being carried out, and a review of operating procedures has been completed in theatre.
My Lords, we on these Benches also offer our condolences to the friends and family of the servicemen killed. If our troops are to be moved by boat, it is vital that this waterway is secure. Are the Government really satisfied that we can rely for the safety of our troops on the Iraqi Coastal Defence Force once it takes over full responsibility, as envisaged, for the security of this waterway? Can the Minister tell the House what progress has been made on the Government’s pledge to retrieve the patrol boats and the kit taken by the Iranians on the same waterway two years ago?
My Lords, we continue to press for the return of the patrol boats taken by Iran. We have not received them as yet. As for the progress made by the Iraqi security forces, we expect to see the development of their ability to patrol areas such as the waterway. However, our prime responsibility is to ensure the protection of our own troops and we do everything we can by reviewing tactics, procedures and equipment to ensure that that happens.
My Lords, from these Benches we add our condolences to the families of those who were killed in this tragic event, pursuing as they were the strategy that we have heard so often from the Minister. Yet we now know that, just six days before this tragic event, Donald Rumsfeld was sitting in his office in the Pentagon penning a memo entitled “Iraq—Illustrative New Courses of Action”, or, as the tabloid writers would say, his “cut-and-run” memo. Were the British Government consulted on any of the 21 proposals for a change of strategy in that memo, and, in particular, do the Government agree with the extraordinary proposal that there should be no more reconstruction assistance to those parts of Iraq that still suffer from violence?
My Lords, I have read the news reports about the existence of this memo but I have not seen it myself and am not really in a position to comment on its contents or our engagement—or otherwise—in it. If I can provide the House with any further information on it, I will write to the noble Lord.
As the noble Lord said, I have outlined our strategy to the House a number of times. Our strategy is clear and remains the same: to support the Iraqi Government and the progress of that country; and to assist the development of Iraq’s own security forces to the point where we can hand over to them, and allow them to take responsibility for, the security of their country. We have seen in certain provinces real success in achieving that, though without doubt we have significant concerns about those provinces where violence is at an appalling level, such as in Baghdad. However, we see that the strategy is working in those provinces and we expect to be able to hand over further provinces in the southern area in the coming months.
My Lords, the Minister mentioned that we have persisted in our requests to the Iranians to return the patrol boats and the equipment that they seized two years ago. Can he tell the House whether the Iranians have agreed in principle to return the boats or whether we are still waiting for them to say one way or the other? Can he say anything about reports that Iranian-made equipment was used to sink that patrol boat just a few weeks ago in the same waterway?
My Lords, we have made progress in that the Iranians have allowed an expert team from the United Kingdom to download data from the GPS devices that were on the boats, which has enabled us to establish to the satisfaction, if I may say so, of an unbiased observer that they were not in Iranian waters but in Iraqi waters. However, the data do not demonstrate that unequivocally. As for the nature of the explosion and the device used in the attack on the waterway, we do not think it wise for us to go into our knowledge and the detail of such an attack.
My Lords, did the Minister watch the “Panorama” programme last night? If he did so, what was his reaction? Does he agree that disengagement seems a mighty long time off?
No, my Lords, I did not see the “Panorama” programme last night. Therefore I cannot comment on it. As for disengagement, we have a strategy where we can see progress in a number of provinces. We have set out our expectations, but they will be realised only if conditions on the ground support such a handover. We need to see how those conditions develop.