BBC: Britain to Announce Full Withdrawal of Troops From Iraq

Fox ^ | June 10, 2008 | AP

[RDTF]

LONDON — Britain's Defense Ministry said Tuesday that no final decision is imminent on withdrawing all remaining British troops from Iraq, as the BBC reported that the government would outline pullout plans by the end of the year.

The British Broadcasting Corp. reported that Cabinet ministers plan to announce within months a final pullout of troops, provided a lull in violence holds.

Britain has 4,000 troops remaining in Iraq at a base on the outskirts of the southern city of Basra.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown's office said he will discuss the U.K.'s role in Iraq with U.S. President George W. Bush during talks in London on Sunday.

But a spokesman for Brown said there are no plans to announce Britain's exit from Iraq.

"No decisions have been made about future troop levels," Britain's Defense Ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.

"To suggest that decisions have been made is pure speculation. It remains our clear direction of travel and our plan to reduce our force levels, as and when conditions allow," it said.

British forces withdrew from their base in Basra's city center last year and began to focus only on training Iraqi troops and police.

But U.K. troops did aid Iraqi and U.S. forces in late March during their crackdown on Shiite militiamen in largely successful sweeps to curb violence in the oil-rich city.

-snip-

[MNJohnnie]

And of course what goes right over the head of the Dinosaur Media is this is another indication of victory in Iraq.

[Gondring]

And of course what goes right over the head of the Dinosaur Media is this is another indication of victory in Iraq.

Uh, then why won't they stay and let us draw our own forces down by this amount?

[Ultra Sonic 007]

Ping.

[Types_with_Fist]

Good point.

[GalaxieFiveHundred]

[GalaxieFiveHundred]

Second time the charm?

[MNJohnnie]

Maybe because there is a greater portion of the British Army being deployed around the world right now then of the US Army. They have a much smaller army and it is much harder for them to deploy so much for so long to Iraq and Afghanistan.

[MNJohnnie]

Please read post 9

[TheGunny]

I thought they pulled out 2 years ago???

[AU72]

Their rules of engagement in Basrah was a joke enabling the shiite militias free reign.

Basrah was finally cleaned up by the Iraqi's after they left.

[Nick Danger]

This is weird. All but one of the replies to this thread treat the headline as true, while ignoring the fact that — beginning with the very first sentence — the entire article contradicts the headline.

• Defense Ministry said Tuesday that no final decision is imminent
• a spokesman for Brown said there are no plans to announce Britain's exit from Iraq.
• "No decisions have been made about future troop levels," Britain's Defense Ministry said
• To suggest that decisions have been made is pure speculation.
• Browne in March postponed plans to withdraw 1,500 troops amid the upsurge in violence surrounding the U.S.-Iraqi operation and said in April that withdrawals were unlikely.

The BBC is a known leftist propaganda organ. Why do Freepers believe them and not the British government?

[Melchior]

Right you are. The British presence in south Iraq was a farce. This is in contrast to the units present in Afghanistan who have shown they know how to get out of the barracks and go on the offensive.

[tobyhill]

Hey Britain, Iran is looking for a few good hostages.

[Mercia]

How on earth did you think that we had withdrawn from Iraq since 2006?

2006???!!!!!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Op_Telic

Once again I’m having to try and educate some very ignorant people here. I suppose it shows how much thanks we get for losing 176 KIA and hundreds WIA, that our ally and her people have no idea of the situation.

And to be honest, it sounds like you hardly care. We should pull out, as our efforts clearly aren’t appreciated. We tried hard, gave it our best shot, but it seems that isn’t good enough for you Yanks. Or am I wrong?

Mark my words, your treatment of your ally will do a good job of making sure that the next time the US has a war that it wants some international help with, the UK will be well down the list of ‘friends’ willing to help. Maybe you could ask the South Koreans to deploy 46,000 personnel next time you invade? Maybe another of your allies will stay the whole length of the war thus far, some 5+years now.

You push us closer to Europe, and the imminent prospect of a European Army.

Cheers for that.

S

A

R

C!!!!!!!

[Mercia]

Just as the US supply convoys are mutineering in Iraq no doubt.

I thought they shot cowards and traitors????? So why didn’t it happen to ‘that’ unit?????

http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=25038

From the horses mouth; reasons why US military personnel refused to do their duty.

[TheGunny]

I dont really want to get into this....I respect very much the loss of your countrymen and such a great sacrifice. The United States Marine Corps has pacified all of Anbar province...why couldn't the Brits handle Basra? I can tell you why...its the same reason you will loose your country to the muslims in a few years. I am not thankful that you lost 176 KIA! I would be thankful if you would have won something (like peace in Basra)for the great sacrifice of human life! What ever the strategy was, it sucked! It pisses me off because I have indeed fought beside many of these heroic, valorious men of GB...they deserved better in the way of leadership.

[Mercia]

“I dont really want to get into this”

Right, yet you continue to slight our efforts in Iraq, so what happens when you do get into it?

How did you get it into your head that we had pulled out back in 06? Seriously?

Handle Basra? We have. We handed the 4 provinces back and pulled back to an overwatch role. There was an obvious vacuum of power that resulted in a conflict. The Iraqi Army, with US and UK support held Basra. We were only ever going to buy time for the IA to get enough training and expertise to win a battle against the insurgents. This was a battle they HAD to fight for themselves, in order for the locals to gain a bit of trust in their own armed forces and demonstrate their capabilities to us. Do you Americans have other ideas about what will happen? Do you intend to withdraw your troops from the country and leave the Iraqi’s to forge their own country? At what point will that be?

You do realise that at some point, your troops will have to perform the same actions that we British did, namely moving to a secondary overwatch role and allowing the IA to take the lead. Then these troops will have to move back to the US, or other bases around the world. To do otherwise, would be to prolong an occupation right?

“I would be thankful if you would have won something (like peace in Basra)for the great sacrifice of human life!”

That is to say, that you don’t consider what our troops fought and died for in southern Iraq to be worth anything? That is to say that they may well not have been their in the first place? That is to slight my countrymen, not yours, who served and died trying to help allies, in an effort that it seems isn’t even appreciated on your side of the water.

So for those reasons, yeah, we should pull out and concentrate somewhere that the Yanks dont have to try and belittle us, somewhere where we are doing the hard fight because no-one else has the balls.

We still have 4,000 in country. Who else has that many, aside form the US? Who else has committed so much? South Korea? No. Poland? No. Australia? No.

So why all this anti-British racism that I see on these threads? Why are you (the pejorative) so unwilling to give us our dues? Methinks its cos you want all the glory for yourselves, and that history paints a nice rosey picture as the US stood up single handedly and faced down a tyrant.

[TheGunny]

you are delusional!

You do realize that at some point, your troops will have to perform the same actions that we British did, namely moving to a secondary overwatch role and allowing the IA to take the lead. ——again, check out Anbar. Check out sader city...

Im no ambassador and I dont speak for the whole of the country. Im a Marine who has been there done that, all I have are perceptions. My perception is that for what ever reason (gloves on) what happened in Basra is a joke and we had to go in the the IA and pacify the place following the Brit with drawl.

Now go and take your pill.