NZ should commit peace troops immediately

Helen Clark should stop procrastinating and commit peace troops to the reconstruction of Iraq without special preconditions, National Foreign Affairs Spokesperson Wayne Mapp says.

"If Helen Clark had taken National's advice and done this, rather than embarking on a series of bumbling comments offending our friends and allies, New Zealand would be in a much better position in its international relations.

"National said that New Zealand should commit peacekeeping troops to the reconstruction two weeks ago. Instead, New Zealanders have had to digest another round of Helen Clark's disastrous diplomacy.

"It seems the only concrete result of Helen Clark's trip to London is a tentative agreement to deploy peacekeeping troops to Iraq. But she can't just say yes on this, and instead keeps piling on conditions about multilateralism," Dr Mapp said.

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