min0 lee

Reports: UK to begin withdrawing Iraq troops




Story Highlights

• British withdrawal comes as U.S. adds more troops into Iraq
• White House portrays British move as a sign of progress
• British troops that remain will train Iraqi military and police forces


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 will tell the House of Commons Wednesday that 1,500 soldiers will return to Britain within weeks, and 3,000will follow suit by the end of the year, The Sun newspaper reported. Britain has a contingent of 7,000 in Iraq now, based mostly in the southern city of Basra.
"Control of the south of the country, unaffected by the civil war raging around Baghdad, will be handed back to the Iraqis," the Sun reported on page one.(Watch how the U.S. is reacting)
The move comes a month after Blair said that an "arbitrary timetable" for withdrawal "would send the most disastrous signal to the people we are fighting in Iraq."
His anticipated announcement comes as the United Statessends more troops into Iraq in an effort to put down a wave of sectarian violence in Baghdad and pacify Anbar province, the heart of the Sunni insurgency.
Blair had discussed his plans with U.S. President George W. Bush during a videoconference Tuesday morning, the White House said. It portrayed the news from Britain as a sign of progress in the nearly 4-year-old war.
"We're pleased that conditions in Basra have improved sufficiently that they are able to transition more control to the Iraqis," National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe 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."
A senior U.S. administration official compared Blair's plan to the one offered by the bipartisan Iraq Study Group in December.
In the coming months, the British military will consolidate its bases in the Basra area and in some cases hand them over to Iraqi authorities, Bush administration officials familiar with the British plan said.
This will enable British troops to focus on training Iraqi police and troops, while Iraqi units take a greater role in patrolling Basra's streets.
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.
More than 130 British troops have been killed in Iraq.
In January, when the United States announced plans to increase its contingent in Iraq by more than 20,000, British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett said London would not be following suit.
Britain contributed about 46,000 soldiers, sailors and air force personnel to the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003. More than half those troops were withdrawn within two months of the invasion, leaving the remaining contingent in Basra.
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.

Double D

Well with that said.....is Bush the only one who thinks this war is just? Or are there others who think this is A-OK?

www.crossfit.com

min0 lee

Well according to Bush that's a goood thing?
So why is he still sending our boys there?

NordicNacho

The War on TERROR must GO on. IRAQ will become a BEACON of FREEDOM

http://www.roqofthe80s.com/#

min0 lee

Nahhhh....too much of a coincidence.

min0 lee

Hah! They don't want us there.


I know of a country that could use our help at a cheaper cost....Haiti.

Double D

Well we havent did anything in Iraq but make things worse (as if we ever thought that was possible). Whenever people from what seems like another world grow up in terror and death it becomes second nature and whenever we put our troops in there to try and solve the equation the Iraqi citizens reject it because the only thing they know is violence. Gee wonder why we are failing over there?!?!

www.crossfit.com

maniclion

From what I heard every other nation is withdrawing troops, and we are plugging the hole with more of our own...

lnvanry

The Aussies and Polish still have a small number of military there...and there a few countries that have civilians there as well such as Japan and Korea.

lnvanry

if thats the reason (which wouldn't suprise me that much....the royal family still pull a lot of power there) then screw em.

lnvanry

here we go
Countries Supporting Ops in Iraq

Country
In Iraq In Theater Total Future 1 United Kingdom ~7,200 1,300 ~8,500
2 South Korea ~2,300
~2,300 ~1,100 (?) 3 Australia ~850 ~541 ~1,400
4 Poland 900
900 5 Romania 865
865
6 Denmark 460 ~35 (NATO and UNAMI) ~500
7 El Salvador 380
380
8 Georgia 300 550 (UNAMI) 850
9 Azerbaijan 150
150
10 Bulgaria ~150
~150
11 Latvia 136
136
12 Albania 120
120
13 Czech Republic 100
100
14 Mongolia 100
100
15 Lithuania ~50
~50
16 Armenia 46
46
17 Bosnia & Herzegovina 37
37
18 Estonia 34
34
19 Macedonia 33
33
20 Kazakhstan 29
29
21 Moldova* 12
12
TOTAL
~14,200
~17,000
UNAMI Fiji ** 150
150

Hungary *** 0 Withdrew troops: Mar. 2005
Nicaragua 0 Withdrew troops: Feb. 2004
Spain 0 Withdrew troops: Late-Apr. 2004
Dominican Republic 0 Withdrew troops: Early-May. 2004
Honduras 0 Withdrew troops: Late-May. 2004
Philippines 0 Withdrew troops: mid-Jul. 2004
Thailand 0 Withdrew troops: Late-Aug. 2004
New Zealand 0 Withdrew troops: Late-Sep. 2004
Tonga 0 Withdrew troops: mid-Dec. 2004
Portugal 0 Withdrew troops: mid-Feb. 2005
Singapore**** 0 Withdrew troops: Mar. 2005
Norway 0 Withdrew troops: Oct. 2005
Ukraine 0 Withdrew troops: Dec. 2005
The Netherlands 0 Withdrew troops: Mar. 2005
Japan 0 Withdrew troops: Jul. 2006
Italy 0 Withdrawal troops: End of Nov. 2006
Slovakia 0 Withdrew troops: End of January 2007

http://www.globalsecurity.org/milita..._coalition.htm

lnvanry

sorry that cut and paste job didn't work very well....just click on the link at the bottom.

brogers

The Brits were primarily located in southern Iraq, where it is progressing quite well. The chaos that is constantly being shown on the news is largely from Baghdad, where it's still a mess. It's a good thing because it shows the Iraqis are taking over responsibility for themselves.