UK forced to scrap Iraq withdrawal plans -- paper

[bemildred]

Damn those rebels, forceing us to stay ...

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain has had to abandon plans for a sharp reduction in its troop numbers in
Iraq next year because of fears the country is sliding toward civil war, the Sunday Telegraph newspaper said.
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Britain's Ministry of Defense (MoD) disputed the report, saying it had never set a timetable for withdrawing its 8,500 troops and that any reduction in troop numbers would depend on conditions in Iraq.

But it confirmed that soldiers from the 7th Armored Brigade, better known as the Desert Rats, would be redeployed to Iraq before the end of the year, suggesting thousands of British troops will remain in the country well into 2006.

"The formal announcement of that redeployment will be made during the autumn and they would be scheduled to go out around the end of November," a MoD spokesman said.

Reuters

[Barrett808]

1. Vote it up! 1.5/5 with 47 votes n/t

[TheStates]

2. Way to shoot yourself in the foot, Tony Blair......

Parliament ought to use the ammunition directly against him full force.

You made the mess there, you clean it up.....says the General.

Iraq is screwed right now....sending Britain's people back into the meat grinder, will ensure hasty deaths.

The only thing, and the only thing that can salvage Iraq......Is a full blown troop withdrawl and intervention by the United Nations police forces of NATO, plus over 10 years of rebuilding bridges and diplomacy......

Guaranteed, that is the only choice. Everything else spells disaster.