Blue Velvet
Dec 9, 2008, 11:36 PM
Finally... the Brits get a chance to put this sorry mess behind them.
Britain's six-year occupation of south Iraq will begin drawing to a close in March, and the last troops will leave Basra by June, a senior defence source disclosed yesterday.
But instead of handing over to Iraqi authorities, the British will be replaced at their Basra airport base by a large force of US troops, who will set up their own headquarters there, the source revealed.
The withdrawal follows months of planning and security assessments by British and American commanders. The timetable is expected to be confirmed by Gordon Brown early in the new year.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2008/dec/10/uk-iraq-withdrawal-troops
We're going and good riddance
I recall the optimism and goodwill that existed in March 2003. I know the Iraqis, once so welcoming of the British, now see us through very different eyes. And that also goes for our US allies, who once kept a special place for us in their confidence as an ally.
The main complaints from the Iraqis are, I believe, valid. We stood by, mute, whilst the US-led coalition dismissed the army, police and civil service. We knew better, but failed to act or speak. It was with huge arrogance that we apparently filled the ranks of the new police with those who at best were unsuited to the role and at worse were active subversives. (It was a fact that the Iraqi police serious crimes squad, formed by the the UK in Basra, excelled in one thing: serious crime).
The US, if they were not so polite, would remind us that we lectured them on counter-insurgency and slung a lot of mud, then promptly turned round and under-resourced, under-manned, and ultimately betrayed our servicemen and women.
Our Foreign Office and senior military officials struck shady deals with insurgents which the bad guys promptly ignored. Ultimately the Iraqis would claim we stood by passively while the new Iraqi army fought for its life until the Yanks arrived.
Tim Collins was commanding officer of the 1st Battalion of the Royal Irish Regiment during the invasion of Iraq
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2008/dec/10/military-iraq
A part of the PNAC's and Rumsfeld's 'Coalition of The Willing' bringing home the last remaining troops to give this current Labour government one less headache to worry about. London knows full well Obama has had enough but can't extricate troops as easily.
History will record that the (UK) failure in Iraq was conceived and executed from London. Our troops are not to blame. The failure was at the strategic and grand strategic level. Obsequious behaviour by career-conscious senior officers on the ground contributed to the muddled picture in Whitehall for sure, but the blame must rest with the Labour government. It is the one thing that future generations will, above all else, remember Tony Blair for.
Britain's six-year occupation of south Iraq will begin drawing to a close in March, and the last troops will leave Basra by June, a senior defence source disclosed yesterday.
But instead of handing over to Iraqi authorities, the British will be replaced at their Basra airport base by a large force of US troops, who will set up their own headquarters there, the source revealed.
The withdrawal follows months of planning and security assessments by British and American commanders. The timetable is expected to be confirmed by Gordon Brown early in the new year.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2008/dec/10/uk-iraq-withdrawal-troops
We're going and good riddance
I recall the optimism and goodwill that existed in March 2003. I know the Iraqis, once so welcoming of the British, now see us through very different eyes. And that also goes for our US allies, who once kept a special place for us in their confidence as an ally.
The main complaints from the Iraqis are, I believe, valid. We stood by, mute, whilst the US-led coalition dismissed the army, police and civil service. We knew better, but failed to act or speak. It was with huge arrogance that we apparently filled the ranks of the new police with those who at best were unsuited to the role and at worse were active subversives. (It was a fact that the Iraqi police serious crimes squad, formed by the the UK in Basra, excelled in one thing: serious crime).
The US, if they were not so polite, would remind us that we lectured them on counter-insurgency and slung a lot of mud, then promptly turned round and under-resourced, under-manned, and ultimately betrayed our servicemen and women.
Our Foreign Office and senior military officials struck shady deals with insurgents which the bad guys promptly ignored. Ultimately the Iraqis would claim we stood by passively while the new Iraqi army fought for its life until the Yanks arrived.
Tim Collins was commanding officer of the 1st Battalion of the Royal Irish Regiment during the invasion of Iraq
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2008/dec/10/military-iraq
A part of the PNAC's and Rumsfeld's 'Coalition of The Willing' bringing home the last remaining troops to give this current Labour government one less headache to worry about. London knows full well Obama has had enough but can't extricate troops as easily.
History will record that the (UK) failure in Iraq was conceived and executed from London. Our troops are not to blame. The failure was at the strategic and grand strategic level. Obsequious behaviour by career-conscious senior officers on the ground contributed to the muddled picture in Whitehall for sure, but the blame must rest with the Labour government. It is the one thing that future generations will, above all else, remember Tony Blair for.
