British Seek to Thin Iraq Ranks, Add Afghan Forces

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http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/15/international/europe/15britain.html

British Seek to Thin Iraq Ranks, Add Afghan Forces

By SARAH LYALL
Published: June 15, 2005
LONDON, June 14 - The British Defense Ministry confirmed Tuesday that it hoped to reduce its troop levels in Iraq "sooner rather than later," and to send more troops to Afghanistan. But a spokesman said there was no "timetable, no fixed date" for the plan.

The spokesman was responding to a report in The Daily Telegraph quoting Britain's chief of military operations, Air Marshal Glenn Torpy, as saying that he expected a "satisfactory conclusion" to the Iraq operation within 18 months as more military responsibility was transferred to Iraqi troops.

"I think over the next year and a half we will see, as we witness a ramp-up of Iraqi capability, that the requirement for us to be around will reduce, but we should not underestimate the challenge that we face," he told The Telegraph.

Britain, President Bush's staunchest ally in Iraq, currently has about 8,500 troops there. But the war has been hugely unpopular at home, and reducing troop levels would be a political boon to the Labor government of Prime Minister Tony Blair.

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1. duplicate topic

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