David Miliband

Basra Corniche on a Friday afternoon

If you had told me in December 07 when I spent a morning at Basra air base, and couldn't go off base, that 14 months later I would be chatting with Basrawis out with friends and family on the Corniche by the Shatt Al Arab waterway I would not have believed you. Not everyone goes for a walk with an armed escort but the Basrawis told me the same thing one after another: Basra security has been changed fundamentally, the big issue now is unemployment, the future is about Basra being a great city again. Iraqi leadership has been key but so has British military and civilian support. Police chief Adel has been given huge support from a UK police team. He spoke with pride about his force. Clean and efficient police are the difference between a city which functions and one which doesn't.

Posted at 22:09 27 February 2009 by David Miliband  |  Comments[1]