Gary Kent explains in the Yorkshire Post why troops out now is wrong

Bloody images of violence against Iraqi workers and British and American troops fill our screens and make us despair. The still sketchy events in Basra fuel this mood. This leads some to argue for troops out now although this will not make Iraqis or ourselves safer – quite the opposite.

The Labour Friends of Iraq (LFIQ) group seeks to unite those who took opposing views on the invasion of Iraq. We encourage solidarity with the free unions and other parts of the new pluralist civil society which have emerged from the long nightmare of Saddam Hussein's one-party dictatorship.

Rasem Alawady, the President of the Iraqi Federation of Trade Unions (IFTU), was a guest at the recent TUC conference. He epitomises the history and bravery of Iraq's labour leaders. He was jailed for his union activities in 1959, purged by Saddam in 1979 and escaped into exile after another jail sentence. He is also an MP who helped draft the new constitution.

A LFIQ team of union leaders and MPs met him at the TUC and asked him about the foreign troops in his country. His "open, frank and clear answer" was "We want to see the fast removal of (UK and US) coalition forces from Iraq. Regardless of whether their presence is right or wrong, what we are concerned with now is that the Iraqi security forces – army, police, intelligence - are not yet capable of standing on their own feet and facing up to the extremists and upholding the integrity of Iraq. We shall campaign for the removal of foreign forces once Iraqi security forces are in good shape."

He said fascistic and blood-drenched extremists in Iraq receive logistical support from Iran and Syria. It is also said that none of the suicide bombers is Iraqi.

We should listen carefully to Iraqi leaders like Rasem. The British Government should constantly make clear that our troops will go when requested and will not remain without permission. And the same applies to the American forces.

The UN mandate that legitimises the presence of foreign troops expires in December. It is most probable, however, that the UN will extend the mission if asked by the elected and sovereign Iraqi Government.

But foreign troops should remain under pressure to respect human rights and learn from criticisms by bodies such as Amnesty International which detail heavy-handedness and abuses by US troops, in particular.

But the troops out now approach ignores the grave dangers it would mean for the fledgling Iraqi democracy. Whether one supported or opposed the original invasion, we are where we are and a new situation in Iraq has been created.

According to the UN, Iraq's occupation ended in June 2004. Iraqis then elected a government with nearly 9 million people defying the bombers to vote to build a new society after decades of repression, war and isolation.

MPs have drafted a new constitution which has worrying aspects on the status of religion and women's rights, for example, but which may yet be amended and unite Kurds, Shia, Sunnis and other minorities.

Iraqis go to the polls next month to accept or reject the draft. Acceptance will lead to a general election in December. Rejection would mean renegotiating the constitution. Either outcome could see more Sunnis dropping their boycotts and engaging politically to defend their interests. The political process needs protection from those who would drown it in Iraqi civilian blood.

The Iraqi labour movement would lose most from abandoning Iraq to the tender mercies of the so-called resistance. Rasem Alawady says: "When we go to our offices in the morning, we don't know whether we will be coming home again."

Free unions have long suffered in Iraq. Saddam Hussein saw them as a threat. Union leaders were tortured, murdered, jailed and exiled. State-run unions became part of his repressive apparatus. Rasem and his comrades have revived the movement. The IFTU has recruited over 200,000 members since April 2003 in difficult circumstances. It has recently been strengthened by a fusion with two other smaller centres and is clearly the Iraqi equivalent of the TUC. The unions are a non-sectarian bulwark of Iraq’s democratisation.

Iraqi democratisation is also being watched keenly by Arab peoples and tyrants. The west long used the Middle East as a petrol pump. The oil riches of tyrannical one party states allowed them to build huge military machines to repress the masses. Those days are ending though it won’t be a quick process. A democratic Iraq could encourage democratic values throughout the region. Abandoning Iraq could destroy such hopes.

Troops out now also nourishes the illusion that we can somehow isolate ourselves from the troubles of the Middle East. Withdrawing our troops would take them out of the frontline but UK citizens would remain in the firing line for that small but murderous fraction of Islam that wants to kill civilians in industrial quantities. The security threat would be boosted if Iraq were Talibanised or Saddam-like rule restored.

We should assist Iraqi democrats and its Government to isolate and defeat the extremist insurgency which is not popular in Iraq.

There has been a steady trickle of visitors from the Iraqi labour movement to the UK. It is clear from talking to many of them that they desperately need solidarity in rebuilding their country, overcoming their isolation from the modern world through the provision of textbooks and non-ideological education, union training and much more. British unions such as Unison undertake significant solidarity work with Iraq’s free unions.

Iraqis want to use their human and natural wealth to build social justice. We should help them as the most urgent priority and in the interests of our own long-term security.

Gary Kent

The author writes in a personal capacity and is Director of the Labour Friends of Iraq group which is holding a fringe meeting with Iraqi speakers and British trade union leaders and MPs at the Labour Party Conference next week in Brighton. Its website is www.labourfriendsofiraq.org.uk