Black Hole

[CHIMO]

IT is known as the city of mosques. But these days it also has an altogether different reputation. That of a fearsome place, full of resistance fighters, kidnappings, foreign terrorists, and beheadings. For the Bush administration, Fallujah’s defiance has come to represent their inability to control Iraq and quell the post-war insurgency ahead of next year’s Iraqi elections.

The request for British forces was first mooted by US ambassador John Negroponte when Foreign Secretary Jack Straw made a surprise visit to Baghdad last week. It was confirmed by the Ministry of Defence on Friday, and it is unlikely to be refused. They are used to operating under US command and control, and US commanders have a great respect for British military professionalism and judgement.

A Blairite loyalist with a defence background agreed with Garden’s analysis. “This is a very small number of troops that does indeed hold a greater political significance than will their impact on the ground in Iraq,” said the MP who added that he fully expected Geoff Hoon to make a statement of explanation to the Commons tomorrow.

The Scottish National Party leader, Alex Salmond, added: “This does, indeed, look like a political decision to blur military divisions inside Iraq. This has politics stamped all over it and it looks repugnant that Blair is still asking this ‘blood price’ to be paid.”

http://www.sundayherald.com/45471