Tuesday, August 21, 2007

The Brits Are Packing It In

Prime Minister Gordon Brown played nice with the Charlatan on his recent visit to Camp David. But he has told Parliament that the continued presence of 5,500 British soldiers in Basra Province, the last of four provinces in it's sphere of operations, depends on the advice of military commanders on the ground. The Independent reports that two British generals have told the newspaper that the advice of senior commanders to the government was British troops should be withdrawn without delay since nothing more can be accomplished in Basra. The commanders want to evacuate Basra Palace in which 500 soldiers are subjected to daily mortar and rocket attacks. Resupply convoys have become "nightly suicide missions". The remaining troops would be repositioned to the airport until they are taken home. The British have held on to the palace because the CIA was using it as a base to monitor Iran. But US intelligence operatives appear to be pulling out of the position. Americans commanders have also expressed concern about the security of the logistics route to Kuwait should Britain withdraw. Predictably, US war supporters have accused British commanders of embracing defeat. But the British think their mission was never to defeat the Shia militias now vying for control of the oil fields and the administrative center, Basra city. In the last two weeks two provincial governors have been killed in the internecine struggle for control of southern Iraq. The latest victim was a member of the Mehdi Army's rival, the Badr Organization. The militias have political links to the current Baghdad government. The Prime Minister plans to address the issue of troop withdrawal when Parliament reconvenes in October.

In an interview with Independent reporters, Maqtada al Sadr, Shia cleric and leader of the Mehdi Army militia, claimed an important role in forcing the British troops to begin withdrawal. So far this year the UK has suffered forty one soldiers killed in action. Al Sadr said that by putting troops in southern Iraq, Britain "has also put the people in their own country in danger." The cleric said that he would welcome the UN playing a role in rebuilding the country if it truly intended to help the Iraqi people, but not if it was merely "another face of the American occupation".