Reports: UK to begin withdrawing Iraq troops

[Nfld Sapper]

<edited to add the disclaimer>

Shared in accordance with the "fair dealing" provisions, Section 29, of the Copyright Act - http://www.cb-cda.gc.ca/info/act-e.html#rid-33409

From cnn.com

LONDON, England (CNN) -- British Prime Minister Tony Blair will order nearly half the British troops in Iraq home by the end of 2007, British news outlets reported early Wednesday.

Blair told the House of Commons in January that an "arbitrary timetable" for withdrawal "would send the most disastrous signal to the people we are fighting in Iraq."

But the Sun newspaper said that Blair will tell the Commons Wednesday that 1,500 soldiers will be back in Britain within weeks and that 3,000 of Britain's contingent of 7,000 will be back by the end of the year.

"Control of the south of the country, unaffected by the civil war raging around Baghdad, will be handed back to the Iraqis," the tabloid reported.

The move comes as the United States is sending more troops into Iraq in an effort to put down a wave of sectarian violence in Baghdad and pacify the western province of Anbar, the heart of the Sunni Arab insurgency.

In Washington, National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe said President Bush has been grateful for British support "in the past and into the future."

"While the United Kingdom is maintaining a robust force in southern Iraq, we're pleased that conditions in Basra have improved sufficiently that they are able to transition more control to the Iraqis," Johndroe said in a statement issued Tuesday evening. "The United States shares the same goal of turning responsibility over to the Iraqi Security Forces and reducing the number of American troops in Iraq."

British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett said in January that the United Kingdom was unlikely to send any more troops to Iraq.

In November, Defense Secretary Des Browne said Britain planned to bring several thousand troops home from Iraq by the end of 2007, but he gave no specific numbers. The remaining troops would be used to train Iraqi military and police forces, provide backup for Iraqi troops and protect supply lines for British, U.S. and allied troops who remained.

Britain contributed about 46,000 troops, sailors and air force personnel to the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003. More than half of those troops were withdrawn within two months of the invasion, and the remaining contingent, now numbering about 7,000, was based mostly in the southern city of Basra.

The war has claimed more than 130 British lives and has never been popular with the British public. In January, as the United States announced plans to increase its contingent in Iraq by more than 20,000, Beckett said London would not be following suit.

Opposition to the war has hurt Blair politically, with his ruling Labor Party losing seats in Parliament and in local elections in the past two years. The prime minister announced in September that he would leave office within a year.

Report of the withdrawal comes three days after reports that Prince Harry would deploy with his unit to Iraq in April or May. (Full story)

His father, Prince Charles, was a pilot with the Royal Air Force and Royal Navy. Harry's grandfather, Prince Philip, had a distinguished career in the Royal Navy. Harry's uncle, Prince Andrew, was a Royal Navy pilot and served in the Falklands War against Argentina 25 years ago.

 

[geo]

Hmmm.... considering that Tony Blair is going to be stepping down this year, he may be looking at doing some damage control - for the party's sake.

 

[tomahawk6]

Withdrawing from Iraq will make alot of Brits happy unless he redeploys them to Afghanistan.

 

[Yrys]

same subject, another source

http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2007/02/20/blair-iraq.html

British Prime Minister Tony Blair is expected to announce on Wednesday his plans for the withdrawal of thousands of troops from Iraq, according to the BBC.

Blair is due to make a statement Wednesday at the House of Commons about the 7,100 British troops currently serving in Iraq.

The statement will include a new timetable that calls for 1,500 soldiers to return home in several weeks, the BBC reported.

 

[Nfld Sapper]

Shared in accordance with the "fair dealing" provisions, Section 29, of the Copyright Act - http://www.cb-cda.gc.ca/info/act-e.html#rid-33409

Update from news.bbc.co.uk:


Blair announces Iraq troops cut 

Some 7,000 UK troops are currently serving in Iraq

Prime Minister Tony Blair has told MPs that 1,600 British troops will return from Iraq within the next few months.
He said the 7,100 serving troops would be cut to 5,500 soon, with hopes that 500 more will leave by late summer.

Mr Blair said some soldiers, stationed at Basra air base, would remain into 2008 to help secure supply routes, the Iran border and to support Iraqis.

Basra remained a "dangerous" place but he said that Iraqis would "write the next chapter" in its history.

Mr Blair said the troops reduction followed the success of Operation Sinbad to allow Iraqis to take the lead in frontline security in Basra.

COALITION FORCES
US -132,000
UK - 7,100
South Korea - 2,300
Poland - 900
Georgia - 800
Australia - 900
Romania - 600
Denmark - 460
El Salvador - 380
Bulgaria - 150
Sources: Brookings Institution; Globalsecurity.org; media reports


Analysis: Political implications 

Mr Blair said Basra was still "difficult and sometimes dangerous", but he said levels of murder and kidnappings had dropped and reconstruction was under way.

"The problems remain formidable," he said.

"What all of this means is not that Basra is how we want it to be but the next chapter in Basra's history can be written by the Iraqis."

He said that it was important to show the Iraqis that Britain - and the other multinational force members - did not intend their forces to stay longer than necessary.

But he added: "The speed at which this happens depends, of course, in part on what we do, what the Iraqi authorities themselves do, but also on the attitude of those we are together fighting. Their claim to be fighting for the liberation of their country is a palpable lie. "

British forces will hand over all bases to local authorities, except for Basra air base and Basra Palace, and most will withdraw to the air base shortly.

Iraq's national security adviser, Mowaffak al-Rubaie told BBC Radio 4's World at One programme: "It's very good news and the British Army will be thanked and we are grateful for everything they have done in the southern part of Iraq, they've done a brilliant job.

But he added: "We would have hoped that the process would've been accelerated further and speeded up rather than be spaced out."

Conservative leader David Cameron said the announcement would be "welcomed in this House, in the country and especially to the families of those serving in Iraq over the coming months. We owe a huge debt to the professionalism, the courage and dedication shown by our armed forces serving in Iraq as elsewhere."

'Huge debt'

But Liberal Democrat leader Sir Menzies Campbell, whose party opposed the war in Iraq, said the "unpalatable truth" was that Britain was leaving behind a country on the brink on civil war.

"This is a long way short of the beacon of democracy for the Middle East which was promised some four years ago," he said.

A total of 132 British Armed Forces personnel have died serving in Iraq since March 2003. The funeral of the latest - that of Private Luke Simpson, of the 1st Battalion, the Yorkshire Regiment - is due to take place on Wednesday.

The proposed cut in numbers of British troops comes at the same time as 21,500 more US troops are being sent to Iraq.

The White House has confirmed that President Bush and Mr Blair had discussed the plans on Tuesday.

A spokesman said: "The United States shares the same goal of turning responsibility over to the Iraqi Security Forces and reducing the number of American troops in Iraq."

However, opponents of Mr Bush's strategy have seized on Britain's move and are using it to attack the president.

There are approximately 132,000 US personnel currently in Iraq accounting for more than 90% of the occupying force
Iraq is divided into 5 main military zones. The US controls the north and west of the country, as well as Baghdad
The Centre-South is run Polish forces, but US troops lead any major operations against insurgents in this area
The UK's 7,100 soldiers are based in the South East zone. Three provinces - Muthanna, al-Najaf and Dhi Qar are now under provisional Iraqi control. Basra and Maysan provinces are expected to follow suit in the first half of 2007

 

[tomahawk6]

More troops for Afghanistan.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070223/wl_nm/britain_afghanistan_troops_dc

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain will send a wave of extra troops to
Afghanistan ahead of an expected spring offensive by the Taliban, government sources said on Friday.

The decision, which comes days after British Prime Minister
Tony Blair said Britain would start withdrawing soldiers from
Iraq, will involve more than 1,000 extra forces, the Guardian newspaper reported. Sky television said that it would be hundreds.

Cabinet minister Peter Hain said Defense Secretary Des Browne was considering troops levels for Afghanistan at the moment and the government sources said an announcement to parliament was likely on Monday.

Britain already has some 5,000 troops based in the southern Helmand province, at the sharp end of the
NATO force in areas where a Taliban insurgency flared up last year.

Last year was the bloodiest in Afghanistan since U.S.-led troops overthrew the Taliban government in 2001 for harboring
Osama bin Laden and his al Qaeda network after September 11.

"What the Secretary of Defense Des Browne ... is considering now (is) what are the appropriate level of forces to make sure we can have an effective fight in which we roll the Taliban back and stop them recapturing Afghanistan," Hain, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, told Sky television.

NATO has more than 33,000 troops in Afghanistan but Britain and the United States have struggled to persuade other members to send more, or lift the restrictions over the deployment to southern and eastern Taliban strongholds.

Italian president Romano Prodi resigned earlier this week after his government suffered a bruising defeat over foreign policy issues, including keeping Italian troops in Afghanistan.

Blair has said Afghanistan is the frontline in the West's war against Islamist militants and warned NATO's credibility is on the line there.

His government's frustration at lack of support from European allies was evident this week.

Senior Foreign Office minister Kim Howells told parliament some European countries' helicopters "might as well be parked up in leading European airports for the amount of good they are doing in Afghanistan."

Britain said on February 1 it would send an additional 800 troops to the region. The latest push will cost the government 250 million pounds ($487.5 million), the Guardian said.

A spokesman for the Ministry of Defense declined to comment.

"As always we keep our force levels in Afghanistan under constant review ... if we are going to make changes to those force numbers we announce it to parliament in the usual way," the spokesman said.

 

[1feral1]

So the Poms are shifting their assets to another AO. The war against terror will still be fought, and the English will still be into the fray.

No one is abandoning anything, so the anti-war movement gets a kick in the bullocks.

Meanwhile lfe here in Shyteland still keeps on going....... The world still keeps on turning.

Good luck to our Pommy brothers in arms.

Cheers, and one more day closer to leaving this mess,


Wes