Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
USA Today
October 12, 2007
Pg. 6
Gates Says Plan Was Coordinated With U.S. Commanders
By Jim Michaels, USA Today
LONDON — Britain's plan to halve its troop levels in Iraq was based on improved security in southern Iraq and was "closely coordinated" with U.S. commanders, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Thursday.
Gates' comments after meeting with British officials were another element in the Bush administration's attempts to blunt criticism that the United Kingdom has been distancing itself from U.S. policy in Iraq.
Britain, long the United States' strongest ally in Iraq, announced this week that it expected to reduce its troop presence there by half. The British have about 5,000 troops there and expect to make the withdrawals by next spring.
Gates met with Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Britain's defense secretary, Des Browne. Under Tony Blair, Brown's predecessor, Britain closely aligned itself with the United States in pursuing the war in Iraq.
Browne said the plans to reduce forces were based largely on progress in the Basra area, where most British forces are based.
The British have lost 170 servicemembers in Iraq since the March 2003 start of the war, which remains politically unpopular here. Britain's 101,000-person army has also been stretched by commitments in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Concern about strain on the British army, which has about 6,600 soldiers in Afghanistan, and political considerations drove the move, some analysts say. European nations are generally more supportive of the war in Afghanistan.
"Brown is trying to distance himself as much as possible from Blair, and Iraq is the main reason for Blair's unpopularity," said Eric Grove, director of the Center for International Security and War Studies at the University of Salford in Manchester, England.
If the British move was based strictly on progress in the south, it would make sense to move their troops to another less settled part of Iraq, said Stephen Biddle, an analyst at the Council on Foreign Relations.
"Even if you have success on the ground in a particular place, we remain strapped for troops as a coalition across Iraq," Biddle said. "I think it's hard not to conclude there isn't something beyond the military situation on the ground."
Iraq's military will take on greater security responsibilities as the British withdraw from the south and change their mission to training Iraqi forces and providing a quick reaction force.
The British sector in southern Iraq is a mostly Shiite area, which early on in the war was more supportive of the coalition than Sunni regions. Lately, however, Shiite militias have battled each other and attacked Sunnis.
The south, which contains vital oil and port facilities, is strategically important. The Pentagon has accused neighboring Iran, also a Shiite nation, of funding, supplying and training some Shiite militias. Some of those militias are based in the south, the location of major supply routes sustaining U.S. military and support projects.
British forces have moved out of Basra and are now based at the city's airport in a strategic monitoring position.
Britain had about 18,000 servicemembers in Iraq after Baghdad fell, but the number of its troops in Iraq has declined steadily since then.
The New York Times reported Thursday that the Marine Corps, which commands about 25,000 servicemembers in Iraq, is considering a plan that would allow the Corps to remove most of its forces from Iraq and take over the lead role for U.S. forces in Afghanistan.
Currently, most of the approximately 26,000 U.S. servicemembers in Afghanistan are from the Army.
Gates told reporters Thursday that he has not yet seen such a proposal.
October 12, 2007
Pg. 6
Gates Says Plan Was Coordinated With U.S. Commanders
By Jim Michaels, USA Today
LONDON — Britain's plan to halve its troop levels in Iraq was based on improved security in southern Iraq and was "closely coordinated" with U.S. commanders, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Thursday.
Gates' comments after meeting with British officials were another element in the Bush administration's attempts to blunt criticism that the United Kingdom has been distancing itself from U.S. policy in Iraq.
Britain, long the United States' strongest ally in Iraq, announced this week that it expected to reduce its troop presence there by half. The British have about 5,000 troops there and expect to make the withdrawals by next spring.
Gates met with Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Britain's defense secretary, Des Browne. Under Tony Blair, Brown's predecessor, Britain closely aligned itself with the United States in pursuing the war in Iraq.
Browne said the plans to reduce forces were based largely on progress in the Basra area, where most British forces are based.
The British have lost 170 servicemembers in Iraq since the March 2003 start of the war, which remains politically unpopular here. Britain's 101,000-person army has also been stretched by commitments in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Concern about strain on the British army, which has about 6,600 soldiers in Afghanistan, and political considerations drove the move, some analysts say. European nations are generally more supportive of the war in Afghanistan.
"Brown is trying to distance himself as much as possible from Blair, and Iraq is the main reason for Blair's unpopularity," said Eric Grove, director of the Center for International Security and War Studies at the University of Salford in Manchester, England.
If the British move was based strictly on progress in the south, it would make sense to move their troops to another less settled part of Iraq, said Stephen Biddle, an analyst at the Council on Foreign Relations.
"Even if you have success on the ground in a particular place, we remain strapped for troops as a coalition across Iraq," Biddle said. "I think it's hard not to conclude there isn't something beyond the military situation on the ground."
Iraq's military will take on greater security responsibilities as the British withdraw from the south and change their mission to training Iraqi forces and providing a quick reaction force.
The British sector in southern Iraq is a mostly Shiite area, which early on in the war was more supportive of the coalition than Sunni regions. Lately, however, Shiite militias have battled each other and attacked Sunnis.
The south, which contains vital oil and port facilities, is strategically important. The Pentagon has accused neighboring Iran, also a Shiite nation, of funding, supplying and training some Shiite militias. Some of those militias are based in the south, the location of major supply routes sustaining U.S. military and support projects.
British forces have moved out of Basra and are now based at the city's airport in a strategic monitoring position.
Britain had about 18,000 servicemembers in Iraq after Baghdad fell, but the number of its troops in Iraq has declined steadily since then.
The New York Times reported Thursday that the Marine Corps, which commands about 25,000 servicemembers in Iraq, is considering a plan that would allow the Corps to remove most of its forces from Iraq and take over the lead role for U.S. forces in Afghanistan.
Currently, most of the approximately 26,000 U.S. servicemembers in Afghanistan are from the Army.
Gates told reporters Thursday that he has not yet seen such a proposal.