Petraeus Holds Talks With British Prime Minister
Guardian:
The commander of American forces in Iraq, General David Petraeus, today praised the “great contribution” of British troops, amid reported tension between the two countries over the withdrawal of soldiers from Basra city.
Around 5,500 British troops pulled back from Basra Palace to the southern Iraqi city’s airport at the beginning of the month in a move criticised by senior figures in the US military.
General Jack Keane, the architect of the US “surge”, said the British were more focused on training Iraqi troops than controlling “deteriorating” security.
But Gen Petraeus, who visited No 10 today for talks with Gordon Brown, heaped praise on the British military and even harked back to their role in the days of the British Empire. “I have the utmost respect for your military and its excellence,” he said.
He reiterated that US troops would begin withdrawal, to reduce numbers to the pre-surge level of 130,000, this month, but warned of the “devastating consequences” of a premature exit.
Gen Petraeus said he expected the British to fully hand over Basra “this fall or in the winter”. Last week he delivered an upbeat assessment of the effectiveness of the surge. The US president, George Bush, accepted his recommendation of 30,000 troops out by next summer.
But the general warned today: “There are no easy answers or quick solutions. Although we [himself and the US ambassador to Iraq, Ryan Crocker] think this effort will succeed, it will take time.”
Mr Crocker praised the British for taking on “extraordinary risk” in Iraq.
He sidestepped a question asking whether he supported the Iraqi government’s decision to expel the US private security firm Blackwater following the death of eight civilians in a shootout. “I’m not sure what the status of their thinking is,” he said. “With regard to the incident on Sunday, secretary Rice called prime minister Maliki yesterday to express our deep regret for the loss of innocent civilian life. “They agreed jointly there should be a through investigation of the incident and that is under way. “Until that is concluded and the details are known it’s premature to draw any conclusions.”
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Remeber the non military security treated to a civilian welcome? Take fire, reply in kind or die. The Military should be allowed to do the same, if that were ROE we would be refering to Iraq in the past tense now
September 18th, 2007 at 12:06 pmNo doubt he’s looking for an extended timeframe ffor the withdrawl of Brits. If he can convince them to stay awhile longer, so much the better. If not, we’ll adapt and overcome.
September 18th, 2007 at 12:33 pmCould they be discussing upcoming action against Iran? Just wondering.
September 18th, 2007 at 3:26 pm