Sir Jeremy Greenstock: "The Costs of War"

Sir Jeremy Greenstock: Arab nations will not want Western models of democracy

20 November 2011 - Sir Jeremy served as the British ambassador to the UN for five years, and after the invasion of Iraq in 2003 he was appointed the UK special representative for Iraq. Before that, he was a British diplomat, between 1969 and 2004, serving in British embassies in Washington, D.C., Saudi Arabia, Paris and Dubai. He was also chairman of the UN Security Council’s Counter-Terrorism Committee.

Andrew Sparrow, chief political editor for Guardian Online, described Sir Jeremy as being “at the center of efforts to assemble an international coalition of support for the war.” In 2009, he was called to give evidence at the Chilcott Inquiry, the government’s primary investigation into the lead-up to the start of the Iraq war in March 2003. At one point, Lord Chilcott, who led the inquiry, cut off Sir Jeremy’s evidence from the live feed, claiming it was a threat to national security. However, many felt important evidence was being suppressed to save the government from humiliating evidence being shown to the public and international media, who were gripped by the inquiry.

Sir Jeremy told the inquiry, “When I talked to other members of the American team -- when I talked informally to the military, to the intelligence agencies, to other people who were operating -- I found a very much more gloomy prognosis of what was going on than I felt or understood Ambassador [Paul] Bremer [the chief US civil administrator in Baghdad] was reporting back to the Pentagon.” He added, “I reported these things...” just before being cut off mid-sentence.

When asked about historian Tariq Ali’s views on UK foreign policy being controlled by US foreign policy, Sir Jeremy disagreed, arguing that while the British public may strongly oppose the US government, the work by the two countries was mutual. “That is completely wrong,” he said. “Whoever said that doesn’t understand the UK. There is a very close alliance, and we have a very considerable understanding with the US over a wide range of values and issues, but our foreign policies are completely separate.”

In 2005, the publishing of Sir Jeremy’s memoirs, titled “The Costs of War,” was prevented by Downing Street and the Foreign Office, which feared it would be a damning account of the handling of the war. Indeed, it had included his conversations with Tony Blair and Jack Straw, the former foreign secretary.

Sir Jeremy is now chairman of the United Nations Association UK and director of the Ditchley Foundation. Earlier this year, official documents released under the Freedom of Information Act revealed he had lobbied Tony Blair for oil contracts on behalf of British Petroleum in 2004. In 2009, BP was awarded a contract to manage an oil field in Iraq, worth 660 million pounds each year after taxes.

Veteran British diplomat Sir Jeremy Greenstock spoke with Sunday’s Zaman about withdrawal strategies for Iraq and issues between the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and Turkey and Iran. read more>>>