Black Watch Commander feard move to Iraq

[henslee]

November 7, 2004. 10:30am (AEDT)

Black Watch commander feared move to Baghdad

The commander of Britain's Black Watch regiment, Lieutenant-Colonel James Cowan, expressed fears about the security of his troops before they were transferred to take over from US soldiers south of Baghdad, British paper the Daily Telegraph has reported.

In extracts from emails published by the newspaper two days after three British soldiers from the regiment were killed in a suicide bombing, Lt-Col Cowan said he feared: "every lunatic terrorist from miles around to descend on us like bees to honey" after the transfer.

The regiment, previously based in the more peaceful southern city of Basra, took over the region from US soldiers who are preparing to fight insurgents in the city of Fallujah.

The redeployment has been hugely controversial in Britain, with Prime Minister Tony Blair's critics accusing him of sending troops into harm's way largely as a symbolic gesture to show that the United States is not fighting alone in Iraq.


http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200411/s1236426.htm