[Marxism] Breaking News: Britain will take troops out of Iraq?

[Sukla Sen <suklasenp@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

 www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk
Britain will take troops out of Iraq regardless of US,
says PM

[Published: Tuesday 31, July 2007 - 11:33]

By Andrew Grice

Gordon Brown has paved the way for the withdrawal of
British troops from Iraq by telling George Bush he
would not delay their exit in order to show unity with
the United States.

After four hours of one-to-one talks with the US
President at his Camp David retreat, Mr Brown told a
joint press conference he would make a Commons
statement in October on the future of the 5,500
British troops in the Basra region.

The Bush administration, under mounting domestic
pressure to produce an exit strategy from Iraq, has
been nervous that a full British withdrawal would add
to the criticism. But Mr Brown made clear - and
President Bush accepted - that Britain would go its
own way, even if that gave the impression the two
countries were diverging.

Mr Brown's willingness to pursue an independent
British policy in Iraq will be seen as an important
break with Tony Blair. Mr Brown said the two leaders
had had "full and frank discussions" - diplomatic code
for some disagreements.

President Bush heaped praise on Mr Brown after their
first meeting since he became Prime Minister, playing
down suggestions that Mr Blair's departure would
weaken the strong US-UK partnership. Revealingly, Mr
Brown did not return the personal compliments, instead
focusing on the historic links between the two
countries and predicting they would get even stronger.
This reflected his desire for a more business-like
relationship with the President, instead of the strong
personal bond forged by Mr Blair.

The two leaders also had to paper over their different
approaches on how to respond to terrorism. While
maintaining a united front, Mr Brown told President
Bush that the fight could not be won by military might
alone, and called for a "Cold War-style" propaganda
battle in the Muslim world.

Deliberately avoiding the phrase "war on terror," Mr
Brown said: "Terrorism is not a cause but a crime - a
crime against humanity." In contrast, the President
spoke of "this war against extremists and radicals".
But he said of Mr Brown: "There is no doubt in my mind
that he understands the stakes in the struggle."

On Iraq, Mr Brown insisted Britain would honour its
responsibilities but admitted there had been problems
with political reconciliation and that the
reconstruction effort had taken longer than expected.

He said that Britain's decision in the Basra region
would be based on the military advice from its
commanders on the ground. Later, British officials
insisted that the departure timetable was not being
accelerated and said it was too soon to speculate on
the plans that would be set out in October. Initially,
they would mean handing military control to the Iraqis
and moving to "overwatch".

However, President Bush acknowledged that a British
withdrawal could take place while the US remained in
Iraq because, he said, decisions would be
"results-orientated". He said America could be there
for "a long time". He added that America's next moves
would be decided after a report in September by
General David Petraeus, the US commander in Iraq, on
the "surge" of US troops in the Baghdad region.

But despite their differences over Iraq and terrorism,
the two leaders agreed to work together to end the
stalemate over a new world trade agreement, to resolve
the crisis in Darfur and impose a new round of
sanctions against Iran unless it halts its nuclear
weapons programme. 


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