Yep.....now these folks will revert to what is natural for them, albeit sans saddam.
This will be a huge test of the Iraqi Army...and the Iraqi people.
If they hold — it will be a heartening sign..
If they fail — it will be a sign of the future the middle east will be forced to live with..
Chaos — the inevitable and unavoidable consequences of Islam...
Their future is in their hands.....
Britain's decision is a wake-up call for Iraq
THE great strength that justified the US-led coalition campaign to remove dictator Saddam Hussein and help build democracy in Iraq was the fact it was always conceived as a liberation, not occupation. As such, military intervention came with the guarantee that foreign troops would one day leave and political decision-making and security enforcement would be left in the hands of an elected Iraqi government. The withdrawal of British troops from a former presidential palace compound in the southern Iraq city of Basra to a military base near the airport is a welcome first sign that this promise is coming closer to reality. There are, of course, many layers of politics at play in Britain's decision. For the UK, the decision reflects a desire by newly appointed Prime Minister Gordon Brown to differentiate his premiership from that of the recently retired Tony Blair. It is calculated to take some heat out of the Iraq issue in preparation for what could well be an early general election. For Washington, Britain's decision is something of a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it has the potential to send a worrying message to insurgent forces and any wavering coalition partners that America's major ally in Iraq has watered down its commitment. On the other hand, Britain's staged retreat sends a much-needed message to the Iraqi Government, led by Nouri al-Maliki, that local politicians must face the reality that foreign troops will not be in Iraq forever and they must step up to the plate. This is exactly the message that John Howard has been emphasising to Mr Maliki in recent correspondence. It will also test the political capacity of radical Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, who has wide support in the region.
Britain's decision to negotiate with Sadr and begin to withdraw troops should not be seen as confirmation that it has abandoned support for the coalition objectives in Iraq. Basra is not Baghdad, and removing 500 troops from the city does not signal a unilateral withdrawal. Rather, it represents the first stage of a carefully managed soft transfer of authority to Iraqi forces. By pulling troops out at night, without the glare of publicity, Britain has sought to limit the opportunity for insurgent forces to briefly escalate the level of violence, providing an easy but superficial comparison with America's humiliating military retreat from Saigon at the end of the Vietnam War. The next phase in Britain's strategy in southern Iraq will be a formal handover of control of the city to Iraqi forces, which is expected to happen sometime in October. In the meantime, Britain will retain a 5500-strong troop presence at its military base near Basra airport from which it will be able quickly to provide military assistance to Iraqi forces if required. Britain will continue to train local troops and help Iraqi patrols secure the river border with Iran.