Results 1-16 of 16 for iraq speaker:Robert Smith

Business of the House: Easter Adjournment (2 Apr 2009) has video

Robert Smith: ...involved in trying to comply with IR35 could be eased if the Treasury thought again about its impact. I wish to reinforce my support for the case for an early inquiry into the circumstances of the Iraq war, our involvement in it, and the decisions that led to it. Such an inquiry must be wide ranging to enable all the lessons to be learnt, and it should be arranged on an urgent basis so...

Bills Presented: Iraq: Future Strategic Relationship (14 Jan 2009) has video

Robert Smith: ...of Afghanistan? The west went into Afghanistan with a clear purpose and mandate and an important job to do, but then it took its eye off the ball and neglected Afghanistan, diverting resources to Iraq before finishing the job and leaving a high price to pay for the people of Afghanistan and for our troops who are trying to clear up the mess that we have left behind.

Oral Answers to Questions — Defence: Armed Forces (Recruitment and Retention) (21 Jul 2008) has video

Robert Smith: .... Does he recognise that the crucial thing that the Government must confront is the overstretch of our armed forces? To that end, when will he realise that the forces need to be withdrawn from Iraq and that their efforts need to be concentrated in Afghanistan, where there remains a major job to do?

[Mr. Martyn Jones in the Chair] — Reconstructing Afghanistan (10 Jul 2008)

Robert Smith: ...that war to stop, go somewhere else and come back later. Surely, the big mistake in Afghanistan and the reason why we missed many windows of opportunity was the mad distraction of going into Iraq. That divided our resources, and we took our eye off the ball and missed the central point that unless there is follow-through, al-Qaeda will be back.

[Mr. Martyn Jones in the Chair] — Reconstructing Afghanistan (10 Jul 2008)

Robert Smith: ...interest: 2001 showed us the dangers of a history of neglecting Afghanistan and its needs. It is rather sad that, having learned the lesson in 2001, we immediately forgot it and rushed off to Iraq to distract ourselves from continuing to understand that the needs of Afghanistan are deep and long and require a major commitment, not a short-term fix. I pay tribute to the military, which...

[Mr. Martyn Jones in the Chair] — Reconstructing Afghanistan (10 Jul 2008)

Robert Smith: ...delivery. Will the Minister come back to us on that? I reinforce what was said when we started. The message that we must get across to the public, through the UK press and broadcasters, is that Iraq and Afghanistan are different stories. British troops are losing their lives in both countries, but the political reasons for being there are very different. The need for us to be there, too,...

Counter-Insurgency (Iraq/Afghanistan) (10 Jun 2008)

Robert Smith: ...feedback is that foreign policy should also be aware of the capability of our defence policy? If that were the case, we would not have walked away from Afghanistan too soon and moved on to Iraq without finishing the job that was to be done in Afghanistan, and without focusing our resources to see through the task that we had gone there to do.

Written Answers — Defence: Iraq: Peacekeeping Operations (8 Oct 2007)

Robert Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when the number of UK troops based in Iraq fell below 44,000.

Oral Answers to Questions — Prime Minister: Engagements (25 Jul 2007)

Robert Smith: ...the Defence Select Committee heard yesterday that more than 90 per cent of terrorist attacks in Basra are now being perpetrated on British forces, is it not time to bring the British forces out of Iraq and to concentrate our efforts on Afghanistan, which the west neglected by rushing to war in Iraq on a false prospectus?

British Army (30 Jan 2007)

Robert Smith: ...it manifests itself have been raised, such as people having to buy more equipment than they have been allocated to make their job easier. One more recent concern, which I raised in the debate on Iraq, was mentioned by a constituent. Obviously, when someone joins the military, they have to go where they are needed and provide whatever functions are needed, especially in a crisis or...

British Army (30 Jan 2007)

Robert Smith: The hon. Lady reinforces my slight worry about the anecdote that I heard of someone who joined the RAF and ended up on the front line in Iraq. That person joined to do one thing but found himself doing something very different. We must be careful that overstretch does not start doing damage at the edges in a similar way to the American system. When such sacrifices are made on our behalf in...

British Army (30 Jan 2007)

Robert Smith: ...terrorist training camps. The perception, and certainly the feedback I received as a result of going out to Pakistan, is that, having gone there to do a job, we allowed the American distraction of Iraq to take us away from that crucial goal—

Orders of the Day: Foreign Affairs and Defence (22 Nov 2006)

Robert Smith: ...was at the heart of the terrorist problem that we faced on 11 September. The Foreign Secretary was able to take very few interventions on that issue to address fundamentally how the distraction of Iraq had undermined our effectiveness in dealing with the problem in Afghanistan.

UK Forces (Iraq) (21 Oct 2004)

Sir Robert Smith: ...great faith in the accuracy of modern air weapons. However, most of our constituents will still be concerned that, whatever the quality of the weaponry, innocent civilians are being killed in Iraq. There is particular concern when children are killed there. As he has said, what happens in the rest of Iraq affects the sector that British troops are in. He must therefore seriously address...

Strategic Defence Strategy (Scotland) (15 Sep 2004)

Sir Robert Smith: The hon. Gentleman made an important point when he highlighted overstretch in Iraq. As well as our keenness to support our specific regiments, at the heart of this debate is the fundamental fact that many of us believe that the Government have made a mistake in seeing the peace process in Northern Ireland as a chance to cut the size of the Army, rather than as an opportunity to redeploy that...

Debate on the Address — [First Day] (26 Nov 2003)

Sir Robert Smith: ...trade negotiations back on to an international footing. The Government will have to work hard in that respect, because the USA may abandon the multilateral approach, as it did in the run-up to the Iraq conflict. In the aftermath of the Iraq war, it is beginning to wake up to the need for help, but by not preparing the ground beforehand, it has done a lot of damage. I am concerned that,...