Britain urged to keep soldiers in southern Iraq

[TexasLawyer]

Source: Telegraph/UK

Britain urged to keep soldiers in southern Iraq

By Tim Shipman in Washington
Last Updated: 1:38am BST 09/09/2007

The US commander in Iraq has urged Britain to keep troops in the country amid growing fears that pulling out of Basra will cede control of Iraq's second city to Iranian-backed militias. General David Petraeus has made clear, in talks with British commanders, that he wants Britain, at a bare minimum, to maintain command over the south of Iraq, whether or not it provides the bulk of frontline troops in the region.

The ever tougher American stance piles pressure on Gordon Brown not to order a wholesale withdrawal of British forces next year. Details of the discussions emerged as the US commander prepares to deliver his long-awaited assessment tomorrow to Congress of the US troops surge strategy in

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Gen Jack Keane, the architect of the surge strategy, told The Sunday Telegraph: "The model for Basra that military commanders would like is that the headquarters stays in place. From that headquarters you have the intelligence capacity and experience that goes with being there for four years. For the near term, that's what the coalition command would desire to have." He said "the political situation in the UK", rather than the military situation on the ground, "is driving the reduction of force" planned in London.

A senior US senator issued a public demand last night that British troops launch a surge of their own to stabilise Basra or else risk leaving a vacuum that would enable Iranian-backed militias to make "Iran owner of a puppet state in the south". Senator Lindsey Graham, a member of the Senate armed forces committee who has himself served in Iraq, spoke out after a week in which British troops pulled out of central Basra, leaving a force at the airport. The senator told The Sunday Telegraph: "I wish they would recalibrate. The south is a growing problem.

Read more: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/09/09/wiraq209.xml

[ananda]

1. Uh oh.. the pressure!

Will the UK, like the Dems, also cave like a Minnesota bridge?

Hopefully not.. but I wouldn't be a bit surprised.

[leftchick]

2. what is he, a moron?

it is too late to take it back. lol! They never had it!

[intaglio]

3. The UK is unlikely to cave in

The Government here has been talking about this withdrawal for more than a year and making clear that we want to be out by next spring - or earlier if possible. The only way that we could maintain forces in Iraq and Afghanistan would be to incur a massive national debt (again) and introduce conscription; either of these would spell the end of the current UK Government.

There are other priorities over here, not least of which is getting our health service back into shape