Of interest PING!
Thanks VR.
Another thread about this general topic. I agree, its a serious issue.
Not much I can say really. It looks as though a deal was done somewhere. I would place blame directly on our political class, and the Labour Party.
Still, despite politicians placing caveats on our Basra troops at the back end of last year, we still provided a valuable support role with jet, helicopters, trucks, ammunition, water and food, and artillery support for the Iraqi Army (14 Div?)assault on Basra. In the circumstances, I would hve much rathered our boys send a couple of companies into Basra, as a face saving gesture as anything else.
Currently though, our forces (and the US) have mentoring teams set up working alongside IA in Basra. These number a significant amount. Many of our other soldiers are patrolling in Maysan, trying to reduce the flow of arms from Iran. Im not entirely happy how we got to this point, but the results are seemingly excellent thus far.