Aug 09 2007
The US and the Uk look for the exit in Iraq
We read today that UK troops are close to pulling back to the airport base at Basra, leaving the troubled streets of the centre. The indications are that the US wiuld like to be out of Iraq before the next Presidential election. If it is not, Presidential hopefuls are likely to tilt their rhetoric towards early withdrawal.
In both countries public opinion lacks the stomach for a longer fight. The US was keener on the invasion at the beginning, but the mid term elections showed how far opinion had changed during the occupation. The UK electorate ??briefly supported the war whilst we were helping fight it, but rapidly cooled once the difficutlies of settling peace on the country after toppling the dictator became clear.
The US and the UK governemnts have to find a way to the exit that meets with the approval of the democratic Iraqi government and enables that government to?? show??it has reasonable control over the country. The??withdrawal needs to be orderly, and the switch from street patrolling to advising and assisting the Iraqi forces as smooth as possible.
Hearing today of the continued death of British service personnel in Basra, and knowing that soon they will be pulling out of the city centre, does lead me to wonder whether we should continue to risk our soldiers lives in such a troubled location, given our intention to hand over to others, and given the danger that the British military presence is??now provoking extra fire from the enemies of Iraqi democracy.
John Redwood has been the Member of Parliament for Wokingham since 1987. First attending Kent College, Canterbury, he graduated from Magdalen College...
Is it not now obvious that Iraq was only held together by the ruthlessness of Saddam Hussein and it was bound to fall apart once Saddam was removed from the equation? If or when Britain and the USA leave there will be a re-alignment of the indigenous population along tribal/religious and nationalistic lines i.e. a Sunni sector, a Shia sector and a Kurdish sector and whether democracy could survive under the influence of radical Islam is doubtful. This may well result in a further conflagration in the area as the Turks do not appear to like the Kurds. The Sunnis and the Shias do not appear to be able to live together and Iran will poke its nose further into the morass in order to gain influence. This could draw Saudi Arabia in and create even greater instability in the world’s major oil producung region. We need urgently to reduce our requirement for oil. We need more nuclear power stations as a matter of urgency.
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