- WASHINGTON (AFP) -- The violent
insurgency in Iraq was a sign the US-led coalition was succeeding in its
efforts to rebuild post-Saddam Iraq, British Prime Minister Tony Blair
said today.
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- "We are trying to reconstruct the country,"
Blair, who met US President George W. Bush earlier in the day, said in
an interview with NBC television news conducted at the British Embassy
in Washington.
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- "Now, why are these people trying to stop us? They're
trying to stop us because they can see that if we're allowed to continue
this progress, then everything they stand for is defeated."
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- Asked about similar remarks in Iraq yesterday by General
Richard Myers, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, Blair said: "I
know exactly what he means ... it's something I constantly say to people."
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- He said those at the root of the insurgency in Iraq were
trying "to provoke a situation in which there's such chaos that they
can tip the country into general disorder".
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- "And the political timetable and the transition
... to Iraqi sovereignty is actually an important condition of creating
the right circumstances for security," he said.
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- "I think the very reason why we're working hard
with the Iraqis (is) to make sure that we have a broad based government
with the UN, to make sure we've got international support."
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- Blair said that, to ensure a successful transition to
Iraqi sovereignty, "we need the military and the political reinforcing
each other".
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- "We're not going to be able to do this without military
action and without being prepared to be firm and tough."
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- Copyright 2004 News Limited. http://www.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,9304968%255E1702,00.html
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