Democratising Iraq (18): ‘It is a battle between democrats and terrorists’ says Tony Blair

Iraq is the hinge of our time. But it isn't always that the Labour Party speaks of Iraq in those terms. At his press conference yesterday the Prime Minister did See this exchange

Question: Moving to Iraq, if I may, the situation has deteriorated dramatically and more people are dying needlessly these days than any other time since the removal of Saddam Hussein. The Iraqis are actually finding themselves trapped between the insurgents and the multinational force, but how long do you think ordinary Iraqis shall wait before they can resume their ordinary lives?

Prime Minister: My information from what people tell me about the attitude of Iraqis is that they are very angry about the terrorism and the insurgency, but they have got no doubt at all what is going on, and what is going on is that the terrorists and insurgents are trying to derail their democracy, and they want their democracy, and the Iraqi security forces are building up the whole time. And it is true these suicide bombs of course are absolutely terrible because they are killing innocent people in terrorist acts, but politically you have got a Sunni Defence Minister. Iraq is changing, and that is why I say the strange thing about this is that the terrorists and insurgents have a far clearer sense of the importance of this, I think, than a lot of people over in our part of the world. They know that if Iraq becomes a democracy they are finished, not just in Iraq, they are finished everywhere. The whole basis of the extremist case is that American power is used to suppress Muslim people. If what actually happens in Afghanistan and in Iraq, and then increasingly across the Middle East, is that people are liberated from dictatorship - religious or secular - and start to govern themselves, that is an end to that extremism, and that is why I have always said what is at heart here is absolutely fundamental, it is a battle between democrats and terrorists. And I think you will find that the Iraqis themselves, their anger is obvious, but so is also their determination that they are going to carry on electing their government, you know 8 million of them came out and voted, and in December's elections they will come out and vote again, and this time I think you will find that Sunnis participate, and they will want to participate because that is the future. So it is very difficult, but it is a battle that there is only one side to be on, and the consequences of victory or defeat are immense, and not just for Iraq, they are immense for the security of this country here. If we succeed in Iraq in establishing democracy, this country will be a safer place. (AJ)