UK to halve its Iraq force to 2,500 troops

[grandpa]

UK to halve its Iraq force to 2,500 troops - Yahoo! News

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain will halve its force in Iraq to 2,500 troops from spring next year, Prime Minister Gordon Brown said on Monday against a backdrop of noisy anti-war protesters outside parliament waving "troops out" banners.

In his first major foreign policy speech to parliament, Brown also announced plans to allow Iraqis who have worked for British troops to apply for funds to resettle in Britain, Iraq or other countries in the region.

Even Britian, which nowadays seems more democratic than the US, is not totally withdrawing from Iraq. What's wrong with people? Argh!

Grandpa h.

[jose]

the UK will not cut and run, they will half cut and run, and god help those that are left

[donfie]

the UK will not cut and run, they will half cut and run, and god help those that are left

Quite true. The British leadership under Blair was just as deaf to what it's people wants as the US leadership under Bush. Blair is gone now so Britain is walking the tightrope between what the people want and not pissing the US off too much.

It makes me sad that "Great" (yeah, maybe 100 years ago) Britain hasn't got the balls to do things in full measures (one way or the other) and just winds up looking like a whimp.

But, we really only have ourselves (Blair) to blame. We shouldn't have gone in the first place.

[Zeebadee]

The "coalition" seems to be dwindling. Soon it will be only American GI's fighting in Iraq to "support and defend" our Constitution.

[donfie]

Yeah. Look what happened when the Maldovans pulled out half of their 24 troops!

God knows what will happen if the 35 Estonians or the 33 Macedonians go home!!

[butterbut]

It means were winning. The Iraqi forces are growing up.

[Zeebadee]

It means were winning. The Iraqi forces are growing up.

Yeah? What do we get when we've "won"?

[grandpa]

What do we get when we've "won"?

Not only that, but it doesn't mean anyone is "winning."
In this case it means Britain's population grew tired of their government's aggression in Iraq. They'd rather see their fathers, sons and daughters back at home.

Meanwhile, back in the states,

Congressional Democrats have put on the back burner legislation ordering troops home from Iraq and turned their attention to war-related proposals that Republicans are finding hard to reject.

The legislative agenda marks a dramatic shift for party leaders who vowed repeated votes to end combat and predicted Republicans would eventually join them.

Debate on Troop Withdrawals on Hold

Grandpa h.

[Thanatos]

Yeah? What do we get when we've "won"?

A democratic police state in the Middle East, lots and lots of angry men in turbans, the rest of the world going from disdaining our lack of aid to other countries to begging us to never aid anybody again, some oil...

[grandpa]

A democratic police state in the Middle East, lots and
lots of angry men in turbans, the rest of the
world going from disdaining our lack of aid to other
countries to begging us to never aid anybody again, some
oil...

It'll undoubtedly be a police state, whether its "Democratic" or not.
Precisely due to this war and the fallout, Iraqis have been under pressure from competing societies within the Islamic world, undoubtedly with lots of secret meetings in groups over who should assume leadership if their moment arrives.

Grandpa h.