Bakhai: Five Years on troops must leave Iraq

8.40.00pm GMT Mon 17th Mar 2008

Nigel Bakhai and Ealing Southall Lib Dems march against war in Iraq in 2003

Ealing and Hillingdon Lib Dem London Assembly candidate Nigel Bakhai has marked the fifth anniversary of the outbreak of war in Iraq by calling for British troops to withdraw.

The Commons Defence Committee recently warned that the cost of British military operations in Iraq and Afganistan is expected to nearly double this year to more than £3 billion despite previous promises from the Government to withdraw troops in Iraq. A majority of Iraqis believe that coalition forces are making things worse in Iraq, and with the recent deployment of 30,000 extra American troops, the Lib Dems believe the British presence in Iraq is no longer a necessity.

Nigel Bakhai said: "This illegal war in Iraq has bled our finances dry over the past five years, money which could so easily have been spent on improving local services in places like Ealing and Hillingdon or boosting the economy now in the face of an economic slowdown. Moreover, our troops are overstretched and under-equipped in Afganistan, and withdrawal of soldiers from Iraq would undoubtedly reinforce our efforts to preserve the fledgling democracy there. It is now finally time for the British Government to end our military commitment in Iraq and let the Iraqi people run their own country."