Combat Camera: Defend America for 24 Feb. 2007

Jacksonville, Fla. (Feb. 13, 2007) - Airman Jesse Baron assigned to “Pro's Nest” of Patrol Squadron Three Zero (VP-30) signals to the crew of a P-3C Orion during start-up checks. VP-30 is the U.S. Navy's Maritime Patrol Fleet Replacement Squadron whose mission is to provide aircraft-specific training for pilots, naval flight officers, and enlisted aircrew men prior to reporting to the fleet. U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Lynn Friant (RELEASED)

Jacksonville, Fla. (Feb. 8, 2007) - Line division members of Sea Control Squadron Two Four (VS-24), bring aircraft 700 to its parking spot on the tarmac following the squadron's last flight. The squadron will decommission in March. U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Brian Smarr (RELEASED)

Jacksonville, Fla. (Feb. 8, 2007) - Cmdr. Ted Mills, commanding officer of sea control squadron two four (VS-24), thanks his Sailors for their hard work following the squadron's last flight. The squadron will decommission in March. U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Brian Smarr (RELEASED)

Mayport, Fla. (Feb. 20, 2007) - USS John F. Kennedy (CV 67) departs Naval Station Mayport for the last underway period before her decommissioning in March. U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Patrick Cook (RELEASED)

Mayport, Fla. (Feb. 20, 2007) - Spectators watch USS John F. Kennedy (CV 67) as she departs Naval Station Mayport for the last underway period before her decommission in March. U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Elizabeth Williams (RELEASED)

Mayport, Fla. (Feb. 12, 2006) - The Surface Warfare Enterprise (SWE) stands up the Guided Missile Frigate Class Squadron (CLASSRON) on board Naval Station Mayport. CLASSRONs will provide the Immediate Senior in Command and Type Commands with the ability to find process inefficiencies and provide the ability to apply resources to achieve a desire result. U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist Elizabeth Williams (RELEASED)

Mayport, Fla. (Feb. 8, 2006) – German frigate FGS Sachsen (F 219) prepares to come pier side into Naval Station Mayport for a port visit. Sachsen is assigned to Standing NATO Maritime Group One (SNMG-1), a joint allied maritime task force designed to protect the waters of NATO countries and more. U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Elizabeth Williams (RELEASED)

Mayport, Fla. (Jan. 31, 2007) - Sailors man the rails aboard guided missile frigate USS Boone (FFG 28) as she pulls into homeport after completing a six-month deployment. During the deployment, Boone successfully contributed to 6th fleet operations while assigned independently to Operation Active Endeavor in the Mediterranean. They also provided assistance to the Spanish coast guard in the recovery of contraband. U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Susan Cornell (RELEASED)

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Combat Camera: Patrol Search in Baghdad, Iraq

U.S. Army 1st Sgt. Brad Kelly speaks through an interpreter to Iraqi men about the activity in the Ur area of Baghdad, Iraq, Feb. 14, 2007. Kelly is assigned to the Black Hawk Company, 1st Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Tierney Nowland

U.S. Army Cpl. Joseph Casiano pulls security outside a shop during a combined cordon and search with the Iraqi National Police in the Ur area of Baghdad, Iraq, Feb. 14, 2007. Casiano is assigned to the Black Hawk Company, 1st Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Tierney Nowland

U.S. Army Cpl. Joseph Casiano pulls security during a combined cordon and search with the Iraqi National Police in the Ur area of Baghdad, Iraq, Feb. 14, 2007. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Tierney Nowland

U.S. Army Cpl. Joseph Casiano pulls security in the stairwell of an apartment building while other soldiers search rooms in the building during a combined cordon and search with the Iraqi National Police in the Ur area of Baghdad, Iraq, Feb. 14, 2007. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Tierney Nowland

Iraqi National Police officers pull security outside a house during a combined cordon and search with U.S. Army soldiers in the Ur area of Baghdad, Iraq, Feb. 14, 2007. The soldiers are assigned to the Black Hawk Company, 1st Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Tierney Nowland

U.S. Army Spc. David Tunstall pulls security as fellow soldiers search an auto service shop and talk to the owner about activity in the Ur area of Baghdad, Iraq, Feb. 14, 2007. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Tierney Nowland

U.S. Army Cpl. Joseph Casiano checks an Iraqi mans hands for chemicals used to make improvised explosive devices during a combined cordon and search with the Iraqi National Police in the Ur area of Baghdad, Iraq, Feb. 14, 2007. Casiano is assigned to the Black Hawk Company, 1st Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Tierney Nowland

U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Coco Gunther, assigned to the 1st Combat Camera Squadron, gives an Iraqi baby a kiss during a combined cordon and search with the Iraqi National Police in the Ur area of Baghdad, Iraq, Feb. 14, 2007. Gunther is patrolling with U.S. Army soldiers assigned to the Black Hawk Company, 1st Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Tierney Nowland

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The Decline and Fall of Western Civ for 22 Feb.

Democrats were for the war before they were against it.
It's the end of the world as we know it...

• Determined to challenge President Bush and take full ownership of defeat, Senate Democrats are drafting legislation to limit the mission of U.S. troops in Iraq, effectively revoking the broad authority Congress granted in 2002, The Associated Press reports officials said Thursday. More from the Washington Post.
  
  The U.S. military warned Thursday that insurgents are adopting new tactics in a campaign to spread panic after troops uncovered a car bomb factory with propane tanks and chlorine cylinders - possible ingredients for more chemical attacks following three explosions involving chlorine, according to AP.

• FT.com reports Iran is speeding up its nuclear program and plans to complete a large-scale uranium enrichment facility by May, the United Nations atomic watchdog said on Thursday. More from The Associated Press; Washington Post.

• A Long Island woman found living in squalor with her three children was under investigation Thursday after a neighbor made a call to the children's father last week, worried about the children's well-being. That's because inside the home police were stunned to find hundreds of bottles of urine, feces, soiled clothes, a dead cat, piles of garbage and used toilet tissue scattered everywhere, reports WCBSTV and AP.
  
  

  "The stench would drop you to your knees," the estranged husband, Raymond Young Jr., told reporters Wednesday after leading them on a tour of the home he once shared with Deborah Young and their daughters, ages 10, 12 and 14.
  
  "Urine in bottles, no plumbing, no toilet," Young told CBS 2. "There was just feces all over, [it's the] most horrible situation you could ever imagine."

• Reuters reports a new study debunks the widely held belief that diet plus exercise is the most effective way to lose weight. Researchers report that dieting alone is just as effective as dieting plus exercise.
  
  

  "For weight loss to occur, an individual needs to maintain a difference between the number of calories they consume everyday and the number of calories they burn through metabolism and physical activity," Dr. Leanne Redman of the Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, explains in a press release.
  
  "What we found was that it did not matter whether a reduction in calories was achieved through diet or burned everyday through exercise."

• Global warming will take a toll on children's health, according to a new report showing hospital admissions for fever soar as days get hotter, according to a story on the Herald Sun.
  
  The two-year study at a major children's hospital showed that for every five-degree rise in temperature two more children under six years old were admitted with fever to that hospital.
  
  It is still unclear whether the heat directly triggered the illnesses or whether other heat-related problems, like pollution, were responsible.
  
  So much for that study....

• Chimpanzees living in the West African savannah have been observed fashioning deadly spears from sticks and using the tools to hunt small mammals -- the first routine production of deadly weapons ever observed in animals other than humans, reports the Washington Post.

• Reuters reports Bank of America Corp. is defending its decision to offer credit cards to people who don't have U.S. Social Security numbers, amid criticism that the program effectively endorses illegal immigration.
  
  

  "Illegal immigrants can obtain cards at many U.S. banks and businesses, and that Bank of America requires other identification to open accounts."

  And all this time I thought it was Capital One that took the hassle out of banking.

• Two clowns were shot and killed by an unidentified gunman during their performance at a traveling circus in the eastern Colombian town of Cucuta, police said Wednesday, according to Reuters.
  
  

  "The clowns came out to give their show and then this guy came out shooting them," one audience member told local television. "It was terrible."

• Last and truly least, AP reports fake bull testicles and other anatomically explicit vehicle decorations would be banned from Maryland roads under a bill pending in the state legislature.
  
  Lisa Rein, writing in the Washington Post, says it like this:
  
  

  As the General Assembly debates global warming and the death penalty, Myers (R-Washington) has something else on his mind: the out-sized plastic testicles that truckers dangle from the trailer hitches of their pickups.
  
  To some truckers, they are manly expressions of rural chic. But Myers, who says his Western Maryland district is brimming with giant fakes on the roadways, calls them vulgar and immoral -- and filed legislation this week to outlaw them.

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Combat Camera: Coalition Forces Find Explosives

Coalition Forces find a large cache of commonly used improvised explosive devices material including several large barrels of ammonium nitrate and bags of fertilizer in a building during an operation in Salman Pak, Feb. 15, 2007. Couresty photo by Multi-National Force-Iraq

Coalition Forces find a large cache of commonly used improvised explosive devices material including several large barrels of ammonium nitrate and bags of fertilizer in a building during an operation in Salman Pak, Feb. 15, 2007. Couresty photo by Multi-National Force-Iraq

Coalition Forces talk with local residents in Salman Pak about a large explosives cache in a nearby building, Feb. 15, 2007. The area was cordoned off and local citizens were moved to a safe distance while the building and IED materials were destroyed by a controlled detonation. Couresty photo by Multi-National Force-Iraq

Coalition Forces cordoned off the area and conducted a controlled detonation of an improvised explosive devices factory during an operation in Salman Pak targeting an al Qaeda in Iraq-related IED network, Feb. 15, 2007. Couresty photo by Multi-National Force-Iraq

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Update 2: 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 Times Online reports Britain's Prince Harry and his squadron from The Blues and Royals have received their marching orders to deploy to Iraq in May despite yesterday’s announcement that 1,600 British troops will be withdrawn at that time.

• Australia has known for six months that Britain would reduce its troop numbers in Iraq, Defence Minister Brendan Nelson says, reports The Age.

• The Associated Press reports insurgents in Iraq exploded a truck carrying chlorine gas canisters Wednesday -- the second such "dirty" chemical attack in two days -- while a U.S. official said ground fire apparently forced the downing of a Black Hawk helicopter. All nine aboard the aircraft were rescued.
  
  A Pentagon report, however, differs in its statement about the helicopter crash saying, "The cause of the incident is under investigation."

• 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.

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Combat Camera: Combat Training at Camp Habbiniyah

Iraqi recruits get into position to fire blanks from their AK-47s during their Basic Combat Training graduation ceremony, Feb. 6, 2007. During the five weeks of training, they received 30 hours of training in drill and ceremony as well as 210 hours of other training. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Andrew M. Kalwitz

An Iraqi recruit participates in a demonstration in which he raids a building and cleared it of insurgent role-players, Feb. 6, 2007. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Andrew M. Kalwitz

Iraqi recruits put some of their training to practice during their Basic Combat Training graduation ceremony, Feb. 6, 2007. During the five weeks of training, they received 30 hours of training in drill and ceremony as well as 210 hours of other training. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Andrew M. Kalwitz

The Iraqi flag waves from a building after being cleared of role-playing terrorists, Feb. 6, 2007. This demonstration was symbolic of the Iraqi Army's determination to defend their country and prevail over terrorism. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Andrew M. Kalwitz

A recently graduated soldier proudly holds his country's flag from a balcony overlooking the graduation ceremony, Feb. 6, 2007. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Andrew M. Kalwitz

Iraqi recruits stand tall with their country's flag moments before graduating from training and becoming soldiers in the growing Iraqi Army, Feb 6, 2007. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Andrew M. Kalwitz

New Iraqi Army soldiers celebrate after their graduation ceremony at Camp Habbiniyah, Feb. 6, 2007. The graduating group was comprised of 934 Iraqis. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Andrew M. Kalwitz

Iraq's newest soldiers take each other in arms after their graduation from Basic Combat Training at Camp Habbiniyah, Feb. 6, 2007. For five weeks these men trained together to progress toward this graduation day. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Andrew M. Kalwitz

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DoD Official: U.S. Safer Now Than Before 9/11

Open thread:

America is safer today than before the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the Defense Department’s top homeland defense official said today, reports AFPS.

It is no accident that America has not suffered another terrorist attack on its home soil since 9/11, Acting Assistant Defense Secretary for Homeland Defense Peter F. Verga said after delivering opening remarks at the department’s Homeland Defense Conference here.

“My view is that the only reason we haven’t been attacked is the enemy has not been able to do it,” Verga said. “They’re not waiting for some strategic opportunity. They’re going to attack us when they can, however they can do it. The fact that they have not been able to is a direct result of what we’ve been doing around the world.”

“There is no doubt in my mind that we are safer,” he said. “I’m not sure that we will ever be safe from this particular threat. This is one of those threats that is so difficult to deal with. You can’t protect every place, every time from every conceivable threat.”

Personally, I would place more value in the reality that there have been no more terrorist attacks within the U.S. than in the strictly political claims otherwise.

Tags: War, Military, terrorism, Middle East, Operation Iraqi Freedom, United States, coalition
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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.

Tags: Open Thread, Wire, Headlines, War, Military, terrorism, Middle East, Operation Iraqi Freedom, United States, coalition, Britain, Tony Blair, Denmark, Bush
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Open Thread: Britain Plans Troop Drawdown in Iraq

British troops patrol their base in southern Iraq, in 2005.
After braying for weeks about the 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 troop withdrawals from Iraq. The real news is all in the numbers.

• 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.

Tags: Open Thread, Wire, Headlines, War, Military, terrorism, Middle East, Operation Iraqi Freedom, United States, coalition, Britain, Tony Blair, Denmark, Bush
Global Tags: Washington DC, News and Politics, News, Politics, Current Events, Current Affairs, Life, Culture, Buzz, Tension