Brendan Ryan (Labour)

Of course not. We are prepared to nod and wink to each other, and say: "We won't ask and you won't say. We won't let on and you won't pretend, and, hopefully, you won't embarrass us." It is getting to a stage where some civilised country in the Western world must stand back and say that the whole Iraq project has failed.

There is no stable Government and no security in Iraq. Some 85% of the people of Iraq now regard the US and British armies as forces of occupation. Barely 10% see them as liberating forces. That is statement enough. Given the increasing desperation, the increasing attrition against civilians and the lie we always suspected we were told about Falluja, the moral position of this country on international affairs demands something more than an anodyne amendment to a reasonably moderate motion — an amendment that could have been written in the White House or at 10 Downing Street.

It is shameful that we could not at least get a Government amendment that addressed the specifics. Who is in favour of using chemical weapons? Nobody, but the problem is that one country has used them. Who is in favour of massacring civilians? Nobody, but the problem is that two countries have presided over a regime under which civilians have become easy targets. Members should examine the entire amendment. Nobody is in favour of any of the practices the Government amendment condemns. What we are concerned about is one country acting in a way that is profoundly and morally wrong and that will cause decay.

Let us remember that the relationship between Turkey and its neighbours is still, 100 years later, tainted by the massacre of Armenians. Let us remember that our relationship with the neighbouring island is still influenced by what happened here over 85 years ago. These events do not go away. Not only, therefore, are we not achieving any political or military purpose, or progressing any strategic interest of this country, we are conspiring to sow the seeds of hatred and division that will last for another 100 years.