U.K. Delays Iraq Withdrawal Due To Battle Of Basra
IRNA:
The British government was reported Friday to be delaying its plans to further cut its troops in Iraq by 1,600 due to the upsurge in violence in Basra.
Ministry of Defence officials have admitted that they were no longer thinking about cutting troop numbers to 2,500 from the spring, as had been outlined by Prime Minister Gordon Brown last October, according to the Times newspaper.
“Any plans for a reduction of British troops is off the table for the time being,” a senior source was quoted saying by the daily.
Under present strategy, the 4,100 British troops still in Iraq are based at the airport northwest of Basra.
British officials have insisted that so far UK forces were providing support only in the form of air cover and logistics, including 19 liaison officers in Basra city.
But the Times said it did not rule out sending a small force to help the Iraqis against the insurgency if requested by the authorities in Baghdad.
Earlier this month, Defence Secretary Des Browne flew to Basra to meet commanders on the ground as uncertainty hung over the withdrawal plans.
In a statement to parliament last October, the British premier said the intention was to reduce the number of UK troops there to 2,500, starting in the spring, but speculation is that the UK may have altered its plans.
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damn all this news just sucks. Sorry if I am falling for MSM tactics but shit, all these news stories just sound horrible. I guess enough Iraqis arent seeing that commercial the site had posted yesterday.
March 28th, 2008 at 8:15 amwhy cant the Iraqi army get their shit together?
March 28th, 2008 at 8:15 amBrown thinks they’re laughing WITH him.
March 28th, 2008 at 8:18 amGood for the Brits, not running away, getting the job done.
March 28th, 2008 at 9:09 amGo get ‘em Brits.
:gun: 
Dbo- Isn’t Gen. Petraeus due shortly to release another report on operations in Iraq? If so, I think a lot of the negative press right now from the MSM is the preloading of their own misgided counter arguments. The timing of the violence right now would fall into the same plot.
March 28th, 2008 at 11:27 am