US and Britain are in denial over failed policy, says former envoy

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Iraq needs a new government to begin a process of national reconciliation leading to the withdrawal of foreign troops, because the US, Britain and Iraqi leaders are in a "state of denial" about their failed policy, a former UN envoy to the country says.

"There is a refusal to accept that the so-called process is not working. It collapsed a long time ago. They should sit down and put something else up. What we need is a serious attempt at national reconciliation that has never taken place," said Lakhdar Brahimi, the Algerian diplomat who put together the first blueprint for the transfer of sovereignty to Iraqis after the overthrow of Saddam Hussein in 2003.

Mr Brahimi, who has testified to the Iraq Study Group led by the former US secretary of state James Baker, emphasised that he was speaking in his personal capacity.

"On the departure of troops, frankly in the UK and US most of the time people are talking about solving the US/UK problem, not solving the Iraqi problem," he said. In the context of a national reconciliation programme, a temporary increase in troops may prove necessary, he said, but "part of that process will have to be a solemn, unequivocal, clear commitment to withdrawal and that there will be no more military bases in Iraq. Whether withdrawal takes place in six to eight months, or all at once, that would be part of the big negotiations."

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/article1998886.ece