Things Are Bad in Iraq! US asking UK to Move their Troops North!

[leftchick]

I am convinced things are really out of control after reading this Guardian article. Will tony send more troops?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1201410,00.html

US wants British to move north into heart of Iraq fighting

The Ministry of Defence is resisting US pressure on Britain to extend its sphere of military influence in Iraq to some of the most violent parts of the country, including the capital Baghdad.
Britain is being leant on by the US military, although no formal request has been issued, to provide a new headquarters unit in south-central Iraq to replace Spanish troops being pulled out by the new Madrid government. That would take British troops into the troubled town of Najaf, where the radical Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr is holed up.

Some British military figures have also been told that UK forces may be asked to undertake a hearts and minds operation inside Baghdad, currently an exclusively US sphere of influence.

The MoD said all sorts of options were being considered, but played down suggestions that a large increase in the 8,000-strong present British contingent was likely.