LAST SATURDAY Matthew Parris suggested that the multinational coalition no longer has the determination or the moral courage to see the job through in Iraq and that the situation there is worse than it has ever been. He — and those who have suggested similar pessimistic theories — is simply wrong.

Let’s get a few facts straight. First, it was never the intention of the coalition to stay indefinitely in Iraq; had we had such intentions we would no doubt now be being denounced for “imperialist ambitions”.

Secondly, we will withdraw from Iraq when the job is done, not before.That’s why we have always made plain that any withdrawal of forces will be based on local conditions, not some immutable timetable. This will mean a transition, a process, not a peremptory decision, or a one-off event. Planning is therefore sensible and prudent.

Thirdly, those conditions include sufficient progress on democratic political control by the Iraqis themselves, and the trained capacity in the Iraqi security forces enabling them to take the lead in counter terrorism.

Fourthly, and crucially, the achievement of those objectives is not only an aim of the US, UK and other coalition forces, as well as the elected representatives of the Iraqis themselves. It is the stated and accepted objective of the whole international community, as represented by the United Nations.

Indeed, it is precisely UN Security Council Resolution 1546 that is driving the ambitious political programme, which aims for a constitution by mid-August, a referendum ratifying it by mid-October, and the first democratically elected Iraqi government by the end of the year.

Even as Matthew wrote last week that Iraq was “falling apart” the Iraqis were moving closer to agreeing a new constitution — the elected representatives of millions of people who never before had a democratic voice sitting down discussing the way forward. Incidentally, those British commentators who have reacted with glee to the potential delay in finalising the geographical-ethnic devolution of power within Iraq ’s constitution might, with some humility, reflect upon how many decades, indeed centuries, it has taken to resolve the same question within the United Kingdom.

So, of course things are hard in Iraq. Insurgents are stepping up their terrible campaign of hate and violence, scrabbling with increasing desperation to put a stop to this process of democratisation. And why is their campaign increasing in its intensity? Fear. Fear of what a democratic Iraq might mean for their ambitions for a very different kind of Middle East. Fear of a working example of a Muslim nation thriving, peacefully, under the democratic rule of its entire people.

This is why they attack not just military targets but the infrastructure of the nation and its unarmed population. When we supply a fresh water system to a town, they attempt to poison it. They are trying to make certain that the lives of ordinary Iraqis do not improve. The same is true when they carry out the sickening assassinations of Iraqis who try to help their own society by becoming teachers, policeman or doctors.

So, nobody, least of all me, would pretend that the situation in Iraq is a rosy one. I know better than most the hardships, dangers and difficulties, because our servicemen and women live with them daily. But our people there and the Iraqis themselves are doing heroic work in incredibly difficult circumstances.

Those brutalising Iraq through terror are looking to weaken our will and the will of that nation’s people to stay the course. They are not foolish where the media is concerned. Every day that they can generate articles telling Westerners that Iraq is in turmoil is a day they feel they’ve done a good job.

So let’s not sell short the progress that is being made. Do we shrug at the presence of women in decision-making bodies across the country, often for the first time? Are we ambivalent when we hear that millions of Iraqis now enjoy power and drinkable water? Does it not matter that healthcare spending is up thirtyfold from Saddam Hussein’s days? Is the rebuilding and revamping of 3,095 schools (with another 753 under way) irrelevant? These are tangible successes that have been delivered and continue to be delivered day to day.

Above all, let’s remember that whatever the controversy surrounding the original intervention in Iraq, the dividing lines are now absolutely clear. On the one side is not only the UK, the US and the coalition, but also the democratic representatives of the Iraqi people and the authority of the UN. On the other side of the line, bitterly opposed to peace, progress and the establishment of a democratic Iraq, are the terrorists, national and international.

The way to defeat those terrorists is to allow Iraqis to triumph: to establish democracy, on their terms, as they want it; to help them to take the lead in their own counter-terrorism strategy and make themselves secure; and, to help them to rebuild their shattered infrastructure after decades of neglect.

Iraqis now have a genuine opportunity to live in freedom and determine their own future. The people of that nation have a chance of achieving a place in Middle Eastern history; free, democratic and prosperous. They will decide how that democracy unfolds, not us. But we have helped to give them the chance and we will stand shoulder to shoulder with them as they do it, and until they do it.

To read Matthew Parris’s article go to www.timesonline.co.uk/matthewparris

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