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February 22, 2007
Update-Blair Decision
This story out of The Scottsman reveals a different strategy from the one reported yesterday:
THOUSANDS of British troops will remain in Iraq well into next year, and a complete UK withdrawal may come only when United States forces also leave the country, Tony Blair signalled yesterday.
"What all this means is not that Basra is how we want it to be, but it does mean that the next chapter in Basra's history can be written by Iraqis" - TONY BLAIR
England is experiencing the same kind of division that we have here in America. More than anything what this means, is that we all have to dig to find out what's really going on.
But the Prime Minister dashed hopes of a swift and comprehensive withdrawal, telling MPs: "The UK military presence will continue into 2008, for as long as we are wanted and have a job to do."
That job will include supporting and training the Iraqi authorities, patrolling Iraq's border with Iran and, perhaps most significantly, "securing supply routes". Those routes stretch from Basra's port to central Baghdad, where the bulk of the 132,000 US troops in Iraq are based, and US commanders are understood to be insisting Britain cannot hand control of the supply corridor to the Iraqis.
Mr Blair's statement was carefully co-ordinated with the US, and followed a conversation on Tuesday with George Bush, the US president. After the British announcement, two minor members of the US-led coalition also said they were to leave: Denmark will pull out its 460 troops in August, as will Lithuania.
Mr Blair said that, after a security crackdown by British troops, it was now possible to begin handing control of Basra to the Iraqi authorities. British troops would withdraw from their bases there and move to camps outside the city.
However, military sources expressed fears that militia groups in Basra would be emboldened by the withdrawal, increasing the threat to British forces. "It may well be they increase their attacks to try to make it look like we're being driven out," one army officer told The Scotsman.
Posted by Post Scripts at February 22, 2007 09:36 PM