The joint American-British occupation of Iraq is five years old this month and with no sign of ending. Five years on – Iraq is a broken country with no security, severe power supply shortages and medical facilities and basic utilities worse than pre-war saddam era. Violence and insecurity for the Iraqis is the norm with an estimated million  (other Iraqi sources estimates are even higher) Iraqis killed to date. Mr. Binyon discussed the reasons behind the failed occupation and the options available for a way out of this quagmire for the occupation.

Michael Binyon  has been writing editorials for The Times since 1991. After a year teaching in Minsk for the British Council, he joined the Times Educational Supplement in 1968, moving to the BBC Arabic Service two years later. He joined The Times in 1972, covered the 1973 Middle East war and became a foreign correspondent in 1975. He reopened the Times bureau in Moscow in 1977, moved to Bonn in 1982, to Washington as bureau chief in 1985 and then to Brussels in 1989. In 1991 he became the paper's diplomatic editor, attending most international summits. Educated at Cambridge , he speaks French, German, Russian and some Arabic, and is a frequent broadcaster on the BBC and overseas television stations. He has won two British press awards, and has published a book "Life in Russia ". He was awarded the OBE in 2000.

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