Many British troops to exit Iraq; Prince H. coming

"Prime Minister Tony Blair announced Wednesday that 1,600 British troops would return home from Iraq in the coming months and that a further 500 soldiers may be withdrawn by the end of summer.
. . . Blair said the British reduction in troops was possible because security conditions were better in southern Iraq, where British troops patrol, than in Baghdad.
. . . military and political analysts disputed Blair's upbeat description of the situation in the Basra area. They also said they believed the timing of the British drawdown may have more to do with plunging polls for Blair's Labor Party, pressure from British military officials and Blair's desire to begin an endgame for Iraq before he leaves office.
. . . British military leaders are increasingly complaining of overstretched forces and low morale, and there has been growing military pressure on Blair to reduce the presence, said Michael Williams, head of the transatlantic program at the Royal United Services Institute for Defense and Security Studies." [1]

"Britain made headlines on Wednesday by saying it would bring some troops home from southern Iraq. On Thursday, it made even more waves here by saying it would send one soldier in the opposite direction: Prince Harry, second son of Diana, Princess of Wales, and third in line to the throne.
Apart from being known as something of a playboy prince, Harry, 22, is a soldier, a second lieutenant in the upper-crust Blues and Royals Regiment of the Household Cavalry, who graduated from the Sandhurst military academy last year. Despite fears among his official handlers that he would be a “bullet magnet” in Iraq, he has long insisted that he would not countenance the idea of the soldiers under his command in an armored reconnaissance unit going without him." [2]

sources
[1] Jordan, Mary & Partlow, Joshua. (The Washington Post). Blair Plans To Withdraw 1,600 Troops From Iraq. February 22, 2007.
[2] Cowell, Alan. (The New York Times). Prince Harry, 3rd in Line to Throne, to Fight in Iraq. February 23, 2007.

posted: saturday, february 24, 2007, 11:36 AM ET
update: saturday, february 24, 2007, 11:53 AM ET

tags: iraq british prince harry

Brits to exit Iraq's 2nd largest city without disarming militias, probably this spring

" 'As we see the need for less troops, the surplus will go home,' said Maj. Chris Ormond-King, a British military spokesman in Basra, where Mr. Gates held the talks with British commanders.
Major Ormond-King said that Britain maintains three bases inside Basra, Iraq’s second-largest city, but that plans were moving forward to turn over the city to full Iraqi control, a step that he added was 'probably achievable' by this spring.
He said that British commanders had no plans to disarm Shiite militia groups, including the Mahdi Army and the Badr Organization, that have been vying for power in the city, as long as they do not attack British forces. A critical part of the new American strategy for stabilizing Iraq is to persuade Mr. Maliki to disarm Shiite militias as well as Sunni insurgents.
. . . [U.S. Defense Secretary Robert] Gates said this week that Britain was making troop reductions at the same time Washington was building up forces in Iraq because conditions in southern Iraq are different than those in Baghdad and other parts of Iraq, where the United States has most of its troops."

source
The New York Times. General Sees Summer Deadline for Troops. January 20, 2007.

posted: tuesday, january 23, 2007, 2:46 PM ET
update: tuesday, january 23, 2007, 3:06 PM ET

tags: iraq british bush