Regards, Ivan
Posted on 02/04/2003 4:44:25 PM PST by MadIvan
British troops will remain in Iraq after a war for three years and beyond on peacekeeping duties under contingency plans being drawn up by the Ministry of Defence.
Between 10,000 and 20,000 troops from the UK might be needed in an American-led stabilisation force aimed at preventing the disintegration of the country following the fall of Saddam Hussein.
The disclosure comes amid speculation that British ground forces will play only a subsidiary role in the invasion of Iraq, which is expected to begin in weeks if Saddam fails to co-operate with United Nations inspectors.
A ministry source said planners had been told to work on the assumption that British troops would be required in Iraq for three years at least.
The force is seen as necessary to aid humanitarian efforts in post-war Iraq and prevent the country's fragmentation into a collection of Kurdish, Sunni Muslim and Shia Muslim successor states. The British contingent will be assigned its own sectors in an American-dominated force that will control the whole country, not just Baghdad.
Lt-Gen David McKiernan, commander of the US Third Army, now deploying in Kuwait, is tipped to take charge of the occupation force. His role as military governor in a transitional administration has been compared to that of Gen Douglas MacArthur in post-war Japan.
The British force, led by Maj Gen Robin Brims, is expected to control a sector of Baghdad. It is top-heavy with infantry units, allowing it to mount intensive patrols.
The servicemen already earmarked for deployment have been warned to prepare for a standard six-month tour of duty, but they are likely to be away for eight months. Follow-on units can expect similarly long deployments because the Army's chronic shortage of manpower will slow the process of rotation.
The Army is understood to be working on the assumption that it will have to keep the equivalent of two brigades - up to 20,000 personnel, including support units - in Iraq for the foreseeable future. That would be a huge strain for an organisation 7,000 under strength.
The Army has had to scale down its contingents in the Balkans and West Africa over the past year, with the 2,000-strong force in Kosovo due to be pulled out by the end of April. There are also plans to cut the number of troops in Northern Ireland. Even then, more reserve servicemen and women may be required. Some 6,000 army reservists have been called up, with a warning that they might be asked to serve for a year.
American commanders are believed to be reluctant to place the Challenger tanks and Warrior infantry fighting vehicles of the UK's 7th Armoured Brigade too near to their own armoured forces because of the primitive state of British communications, which could lead to confusion in battle and a proliferation of friendly-fire incidents.
The disparity in British and US communications equipment is the most serious issue in the two armies working together. The digital radios in US armoured vehicles allow their commanders to send and receive fully-encrypted information, giving them a thorough awareness of the battle via the "tactical internet".
Each radio has a satellite positioning device that automatically sends out the position of the tank or infantry fighting vehicle in question, reducing the chance of friendly fire - "blue on blue" - incidents. British armoured vehicles are equipped with the Clansmen radio dating from the 1960s and 1970s.
An analogue system, it has an extremely limited ability to transmit data.
Regards, Ivan
Shouldn't they be redeployed to Finsbury Park and anywhere else in Britain where Muslims are suffering severe human rights abuses?
Yes, you are ~ And we thank you!
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