THE TENSION: Update: Britain Plans Troop Drawdown in Iraq

British troops patrol their base in southern Iraq, in 2005.
Open Thread:

After braying for weeks about the potential catastrophic results of President Bush's troop buildup in Iraq, mainstream media outlets yesterday breathlessly misreported the catastrophic damage caused by Britain and Denmark's plans for troop withdrawals from Iraq. The real news is all in the numbers.

The Press Association reports a hasty withdrawal of coalition forces from Iraq will cause "chaos and the division of Iraq," according to Romanian president Traian Basescu.

The Romanian president is under increasing pressure at home -- from prime minister Calin Popescu Tariceanu and the left-wing opposition -- to announce a timeline for withdrawing the country's 600 troops from Iraq.

The Press Association also reports Britain's Prince Harry's regiment will learn on Thursday whether it is to be sent to Iraq in the latest round of troop deployments.

A spokesman refused to reveal which units were involved, or to indicate whether Harry's regiment, the Blues and Royals, will be among those deployed.

But speculation is rife that the Prince, who is third in line to the throne, will become the first royal to serve a tour of duty in a war-zone since his uncle, the Duke of York, flew helicopters in the Falklands conflict in 1982.

British troops have achieved many tangible successes in Iraq - securing oil platforms, rounding up rogue police units and driving smugglers carrying weapons and contraband from waterways and border crossings, according to The Associated Press.

Reuters reports the White House on Wednesday portrayed a British timetable for beginning to withdraw forces from Iraq as a sign of progress but Democrats seized on it to pressure President George W. Bush to bring U.S. troops home.

Democrats quickly pounced on Blair's announcement as support for their position that a political solution is needed rather than sending more troops into the four-year battle, which has killed 3,148 American soldiers. (Editor's Note: Please see DFWC for 20 Feb. for a discussion comparing the 4,417 killed in peacetime during the Clinton Administration between 1993-1996 to the 3,148 killed in Iraq.)

"At a time when President Bush is asking our troops to shoulder a larger and unsustainable burden policing a civil war, his failed policies have left us increasingly isolated in Iraq and less secure here at home," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said.

"The announcement by the British government confirms the doubts in the minds of the American people about the President's decision to increase the number of U.S. soldiers in Iraq," the House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said.
However Vice President Cheney ridiculed Pelosi and war critic Rep. John Murtha, for their opposition to sending more U.S. forces into Iraq.

"I think in fact if we were to do what Speaker Pelosi and Congressman Murtha are suggesting, all we'll do is validate the al Qaeda strategy, the al Qaeda strategy is to break the will of the American people," Cheney told ABC News.

The Associated Press reports Britain will withdraw around 1,600 troops from Iraq in the coming months and aims to further cut its 7,100-strong contingent by late summer if Iraqi forces can secure the country's south, Prime Minister Tony Blair said Wednesday.

Denmark said it would withdraw its 460 troops in August and replace them with a helicopter unit consisting of 50 men, according to AFP; BBC News.

The news comes as the U.S. is implementing an increase of 21,000 more troops for Iraq.

Analysts say there is little point in boosting forces in largely Shiite southern Iraq, where most non-U.S. coalition troops are concentrated.

Blair said:

"What all of this means is not that Basra is how we want it to be but the next chapter in Basra's history can be written by the Iraqis."
More from: Reuters; The Washington Post; BBC News.

ABC News reports Vice President Dick Cheney said the move was actually good news and a sign of progress in Iraq.

"Well, I look at it and see it is actually an affirmation that there are parts of Iraq where things are going pretty well," Cheney told ABC News' Jonathan Karl.

"In fact, I talked to a friend just the other day who had driven to Baghdad down to Basra, seven hours, found the situation dramatically improved from a year or so ago, sort of validated the British view they had made progress in southern Iraq and that they can therefore reduce their force levels," Cheney said.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Wednesday the U.S.-led coalition of international forces in Iraq was still intact after Britain announced plans to reduce its troop levels.

"The coalition remains intact and in fact the British will have thousands of soldiers deployed in Iraq in the south," she said at a joint news conference with German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, reports Reuters.

"It is the plan that as it is possible to transfer responsibility to the Iraqis, that coalition forces would no longer be needed in those circumstances."

Last but not least, AFPS reports the news without the bias, hype and spin.

“The U.K. military presence will continue into 2008, for as long as we are wanted and have a job to do,” British Prime Minister Tony Blair said. “Increasingly our role will be support and training, and our numbers will be able to reduce accordingly.”
The United Kingdom’s combat capability in Iraq will not be diminished, Blair said, and the remaining British forces will focus on training Iraqi forces and securing the Iranian border and supply routes.