Wednesday - February 21, 2007

Exit Britannia

No one should be surprised that the Brits are starting to pull out of Iraq. Neither should anyone be complaining either. Our friends have done an admirable job in the south of Iraq and from what I can see and hear, they have accomplished their mission and it’s time for them to go home.

To me this is not a bad sign but rather a good sign that progress is being made in Iraq and bodes well for our own future in that benighted country. The Brits took responsibility for the south of Iraq which is almost entirely Shiite so the Brits have not had to contend with the sectarian violence we have seen in Baghdad.

They have lost 136 troops but have managed to get their area under control and turn things over to the Iraqi troops and police - which is what the US hopes to do in the rest of the country - if Congress quits trying to meddle in the conduct of the war. At least the British government hasn’t acted like a bunch of spoiled children, stabbing each other in the back over Iraq and maneuvering for political edge - like the blowhards in Washington have been doing.

No, our British allies have quietly gone about doing their job and now they are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel and can prepare to leave. We owe them a big thanks for their efforts and for sticking by us when the rest of the world thumbed their noses at us.

Now, if only the US Congress can put away their surrender flags long enough for US troops to accomplish the same thing, this all might come out OK in the end. We shall see. So far, the surge in Iraq is paying dividends. Significant progress has already been made in quieting the boiling cauldron that is Sunni-Shiite hell that is Baghdad.

To our Brit friends I can only say, “Thanks, Mates!”. We owe ya one ...

Blair to Announce Iraq Withdrawal Plan
_{LONDON (MYWAY NEWS) - Feb 21, 1:00 AM (ET)}

Prime Minister Tony Blair will announce on Wednesday a new timetable for the withdrawal of British troops from Iraq, with 1,500 to return home in several weeks, British media reported.

Blair will also tell the House of Commons during his regular weekly appearance before it that a total of about 3,000 British soldiers will have left southern Iraq by the end of 2007, if the security there is sufficient, the British Broadcasting Corp. and The Sun newspaper said, quoting government officials who weren’t further identified.

The BBC said Blair was not expected to say when the rest of Britain’s forces would leave Iraq. Currently, Britain has about 7,100 soldiers there.

The announcement comes as President Bush implements an increase of 21,000 more troops for Iraq, but while some of the other coalition partners are pulling out: The Italians and Slovaks have left, and the Danes and the South Koreans want to start withdrawing.

Blair and Bush talked by secure video link Tuesday morning, and Bush views Britain’s troop cutbacks as “a sign of success” in Iraq, said U.S. National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe.

“While the United Kingdom is maintaining a robust force in southern Iraq, we’re pleased that conditions in Basra have improved sufficiently that they are able to transition more control to the Iraqis,” Johndroe said in Washington.

Britain has long been the most important coalition member in Iraq after the United States. But Blair knows the British public and politicians from his own Labour Party want the troops out as quickly as possible, and don’t want to see Britain stick with the United States in Iraq for the long haul.

Militarily, a British withdrawal isn’t likely to have much effect on the stepped-up U.S. operation in Baghdad or the war with the Sunnis in Anbar province west of the Iraqi capital. However, Iraqi forces could have a tough time maintaining security in mostly Shiite southern Iraq, including Basra city.

Blair’s Downing Street office refused to comment on the report, which also said Blair would tell the Commons that if the situation worsens on the ground on Iraq, his new game plan could change.

A British government official confirmed that Blair would make a statement to the Commons on Wednesday on the status of British forces in Iraq. The official spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the matter.

Johndroe said that “the United States shares the same goal of turning responsibility over to the Iraqi Security Forces and reducing the number of American troops in Iraq. ... President Bush sees this as a sign of success and what is possible for us once we help the Iraqis deal with the sectarian violence in Baghdad.”

“We want to bring our troops homes as well,” Johndroe said. “It’s the model we want to emulate, to turn over more responsibilities to Iraqis and bring our troops home. That’s the goal and always has been.”

At a news conference in Brussels on Jan. 15, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said he was not bothered that Britain was “planning a drawdown at some point this year in their forces in the south.”

He said Basra’s security situation was much different than Baghdad’s.

- More ...

Posted by The Skipper     on 02/21/2007 at 02:10 AM   
Filed Under: • Iraq •  
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Not that very many people ever read this far down, but this blog was the creation of Allan Kelly and his friend Vilmar. Vilmar moved on to his own blog some time ago, and Allan ran this place alone until his sudden and unexpected death partway through 2006. We all miss him. A lot. Even though he is gone this site will always still be more than a little bit his. We who are left to carry on the BMEWS tradition owe him a great debt of gratitude, and we hope to be able to pay that back by following his last advice to us all:

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It's been a long strange trip without you Skipper, but thanks for pointing us in the right direction and giving us a swift kick in the behind to get us going. Keep lookin' down on us, will ya? Thanks.

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