Prime Minister Tony Blair announced today that in the next few months Britain will withdraw up to 1,600 of its roughly 7,100 British troops, most of whom are stationed in Basra in southern Iraq, the New York Times reported. "What all this means is not that Basra is how we want it to be," Blair said, "but it does mean that the next chapter in Basra’s history can be written by Iraqis."
The Danish prime minister also announced today that all of his country’s 460 troops in Iraq would be out by August, and the Lithuanian government is "seriously considering" withdrawing its 53 soldiers, the Times reported.
A spokesman for the U.S. National Security Council said that President Bush sees the British withdrawal "as a sign of success and what is possible for us once we help the Iraqis deal with the sectarian violence in Baghdad."
It doesn’t seem like success.
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
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98 Comments
So much for Bush’s “coalition”
“coalition”
Oh, thats what thats called… All this time i thought it was a the blind leading the blinder…
According to the dems, we were going this alone. How did Denmark and Lithuania get in?Or, were the dems lieing?
fleet since poland left all has been lost don’t you get the limpbaugh letter?
Libs…invested in failure in Iraq.
Libs…invested in failure in Iraq. is that the goldman sachs iraqi failure fund or one of the new jp morgan hedge funds?
Funny, but the Times article left out some of what I read about this yesterday, which in essence said that Basra isn’t all that stable. I’ll have to hunt up the link to that article and post it here.
No one said that the U.S. was going it alone. Fact is, there haven’t been that many coalition troops there. Spain bowed out early. The Australians aren’t happy about their own involvement, early on. So what we have left is the Brits and the smaller countries noted above. Those smaller forces weren’t involved in the “war” itself, but in providing security for the “rebuilding”. And just how’s that going?
There were a lot of countries listed as being in the coalition; however their contributions have been token at best. Other than Britain they had very few troops involved.
Here’s part of it, but still not all.
Anthony Cordesman at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington said the British withdrawal would play into the hands of Iranian-backed Shi’ites.
**Anthony Cordesman at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington said the British withdrawal would play into the hands of Iranian-backed Shi’ites.
“The British cuts will in many ways simply reflect the political reality that the British ‘lost’ the south more than a year ago,” he said.
CHENEY: “GOING PRETTY WELL” IN IRAQ
In Basra, Iraq’s second city and main center for oil production, many expressed relief at the planned British withdrawal but some voiced fears it was premature.
“They were occupiers and they should have left long ago,” said Nour Abdul-Muttalib, 29, teacher.
Jaafar Saleem, 38, a businessman in the city, said: “I think their exit will produce lawlessness in the city.”**
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070221/ts_nm/iraq1_dc
It seems that even the Times is now not printing everything.
I’m sure that the Aussie PM will send lots of his boys there, seeing as how he protested Obama’s plan to bring em home!
Where’s crocodile Dundee when we need a tough guy?
Heard Blair on NPR over the noon hour. He said Basra was not in the shape that they had hoped for, but with the Brit withdrawal, how Basra shaped up was in the hands of the Iraqis.
A phone call prior to Blair’s annoouncement:
Tony: George, I am going to show you how its done, man.
GeorgeW: Oh, okay, Tony. But, on that day in the distant furture, can I say ‘Bring ‘em on’, after?
Heard Blair on NPR over the noon hour. He said Basra was not in the shape that they had hoped for, but with the Brit withdrawal, how Basra shaped up was in the hands of the Iraqis.
A phone call prior to Blair’s anouncement:
Tony: George, I am going to show you how its done, man.
GeorgeW: Oh, okay, Tony. But, on that day in the distant furture, can I say ‘Bring ‘em on’, after?
Sorry for the double post – the second one has the fewest spelling errors.
Tony Blair is recalling 1700 troops out of 7000 due to intense political pressure in Brittan and Cheney spins that into “things are getting better?”
This is the same old crap that got us into this mess in Iraq.
After four years of “things are getting better,” Iraq ought to be Disney World by now.
Ed Friedemann,
Indeed. The future’s so bright, W’s gotta wear shades.
That’s what it said Mr. Friedmann, “things are the way we want them to be” according to Tony Blair. Maybe some should try stopping revising the news story and read what it says.
Shades? How about blinders?
No, glasses with all of the lens blocked out except for a tiny pinprick, and the blinders attached.
Britain has to do what it feels best, as do all the others embroiled in this mess. Is this the rats fleeing or sinking ship or a mutiny? Either way, being there is very unpopular.
Time will tell.
The Palauans will just have to step into the breach I guess.
What was that old country song “Git while the gittin’s good.”?
Uh, Roscoe, you sorta forgot the word “not” in your quote from Mr. Blair; that does change the meaning of the sentence, correct?
Things are the way we want them to be: FUBAR.
When the reich-wing says that Democrats are “invested in failure” in Iraq, what they really mean is that Republicans are invested in success in Iraq.
Which hasn’t happened in four years.
Which is why the American public now rates the Democrats higher in every area of American governance–fiscal responsibility, fighting terror, disaster response, you name it.
The Great Repudiation has begun.
“”I would admit that there is a sense of uncertainty, but things are not getting better with the British in Basra,” he said. “The British are aggravating tensions by just being there.”"
Hardly roscoe’s BS “”things are the way we want them to be” ”
http://www.kansas.com/mld/kansas/news/breaking_news/16743067.htm
THAT DOES IT! No more “English muffins” . . . . from now on they’re FREEDOM Muffins. English Bulldog = FREEDOM Bulldog, English Language = FREEDOM Language, English Renaissance = FREEDOM Renaissance, Engish High Tea = FREEDOM High Tea, British Thermal Unit = FREEDOM Thermal Unit, English horn = FREEDOM Horn
Looks like the Brits have the good sense to declare victory and bug the hell out. Too bad we don’t have common-sense leadership like that in this country.
Roscoe,
Wow–nice job with the ‘new-speak,’ turning Blair’s words into precisely the opposite of what he meant.
Lie much, Roscoe?
lol Capn
“For FREEDOM, press 1″
I can make the shot, if I put enough FREEDOM on the cue ball.
God SHAVE the Queen!
Heh, yup, remember all the Francophobia during the pre-war hysteria.
Funny thing, the cheese eating surrender monkeys are looking pretty smart right now, aren’t they?
No merde.
“…in the next few months Britain will withdraw up to 1,600 of its roughly 7,100″
Up to 1,600 troops? What’s that mean? 2 are leaving? 1,599 are leaving That’s not exactly leaving, as the headline states. They will still have a lot of troops there.Libs = using the language to suit their purposes.
“Funny thing, the cheese eating surrender monkeys are looking pretty smart right now, aren’t they?”
No. The ugly truth is, thinking people have no respect for them and those who think like them.
Blair’s words according to the link above:
“What all this means is not that Basra is how we want it to be,” Mr. Blair said, “but it does mean that the next chapter in Basra’s history can be written by Iraqis.”
Hardly saying ” “things are the way we want them to be”"
CONS = turning language on its head to serve their lies
So, ben, are the British leaving as the headline says? Or, are some of the British leaving?UP TO 1600 of them.
Would that be a lie of omission?
Which is it?
It is what it says – a bunch of Brits are leaving. And others are going back toward support roles.
Only the Blog’s Dumbest Poster could think that “up to 1600″ troops means two troops.
If they meant that, they would have said “up to three” troops.
One can reasonably expect that “up to 1600″ means well over a thousand or more.
You CONs are like Lewis Carroll’s Humpty Dumpty, you make the words mean whatever you want them to mean.
It does make it easier to understand why you can delude yourself about W.’s splendid little war.
From the Brits themselves:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/6380933.stm
Thanks VT:
Some 1,600 British troops will return from Iraq within the next few months, Prime Minister Tony Blair has told MPs.He said the 7,100 serving troops would be cut to 5,500 soon, with hopes that 500 more will leave by late summer.
“One can reasonably expect that “up to 1600″ means well over a thousand or more.”
No. One can expect it to mean from 1 up to 1600. If they meant well over a thousand, they would have said that.
I will give you up to a million dollars to wash my car. You in?
Fascists are funny!
Especially fleetenema
Sure fleet – just like “months not years” can mean 5000 months!
Exactly, ben. 2 out of 3 doctors surveyed…
You can lose up to 100 pounds with our program…
You can make up to $4000 per month with our system…
“thinking people have no respect for them and those who think like them.”Who are these thinking people? Who gives these people authority to think this?
Hey the Danes are pulling out completely!
No more Great Danes! Scooby Doo can be a Great FREEDOM.
Have a Freedomish instead of the pastry of cut and run.
“Who gives these people authority to think this?”
It’s a state law.
Thing is fleet, you also look at the credibility of the advertiser. If a legitiamte employer tells you ‘up to 4 grand per month’ then it should be reasonable to expect to be right up there. But if it is a fly-by-night MLM of course the opposite.
Thus, if a reputable eprson says “months not years” I would expect less than a year. But, in this case it is approaching 4 years. So, when they now say “results of the surge ’soon’” I am skeptical.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jFowNFvmUxw
“Blood on the Wire” Jackson Browne
Awesome song and video–see Worst. President. Ever. giving us all the finger.
Here’s a higher res version:
http://www.myvideodaily.com/?channel=Music+Videos&clipid=69888&bitrate=300&format=wmp
” But if it is a fly-by-night MLM of course the opposite.”
I am glad the you Ben, made that statment. I have family in Quixtar/Amway, and it is bad news. I wished they could see the way to get out, but they are brainwashed.
COuld the Eagle do a local story on the Quixtar/Amway crap that is going on in Kansas.
THAT would be a necessary service to the public by exposing this crap “business”.
That would be an interesting story. They have a columnist in the business section you might contact.
MLM is not always bad – I know some people who make good money doing Avon or Mary Kay. But it gets terrible oversold by some ‘pushers’
Many years ago, I sang at a Amway “mini-convention” here in town. There were several hundred people in the school auditorium. The most I had ever sung for up to then. My Uncle was big in it (not anymore) and he put this on.I sang some stupid, original Amway about the “circles”, then I sang the “Glory, Glory, Halilluya” song. I’ll never forget it. Those people were on their feet and shouting and applauding like some kind of revival. It was something.
I don’t know if we can or should legislate people being stupid with their own money. If Amway and others are cheating, that would be different.
Avon is okay, MaryKay is nasty, nasty, nasty. Might as well rename the line, Sluts-R-Us.
I buy and sell Real Estate, that’s about it. Good money if you know what you’re doing.
Oh – and my comment on this thread?
Sissy Brits. They deserve what they get.
“Sissy Brits. They deserve what they get.”Posted by: GSheridan | February 21, 2007 at 06:33 PM
LOL
Ya gotta love the coalition Jedi Prez W the Something Less Than Great put together, doncha?
4 years of solid service and what do wearers of the Three Lions earn from a red-stater? Woo boy, now that’s tight…
In the words of ksfarmgrrl:
hehehehehehehehehehehehehHEHE…choke, damn! Oh man, that’s funny…
Now THAT’S a coalition W style.
Whew, them’s the ties that bind! In the peerless words of Lynyrd Skynyrd, what’s that smell?
LOL
What exactly do we expect to happen?Yes, troops will be leaving.It’s just a matter of who and when.Shouldn’t we be thanking our only allie, instead of calling them names?For God’s sake, what about the men and women from the UK who gave their lives for what they felt was a noble cause?
George W Bush stars in “Commander Codpiece III: The Brits is Sissies, and I Am Not As You Can See By My Massive Codpiece…and hey, Remove Thine Eyes From the Visage Of Mine Father Commander Coalition I the Codpieceless!”
Coming soon to a theatre near you!
Oh man, this is too funny…
Should that be allie or ally?
ally singular
allies plural
Little wonder we are running out of them.
GSheridan showed up and proved Capn right.
Again, focus on the lieing headline. The British are not leaving. You people only wish it were so.
Again, focus on the lieing headline. The British are not leaving. You people only wish it were so.Posted by: fleettwood | February 21, 2007 at 07:38 PM
LOL
God, I’m dyin’ here. So why is your side calling the Brits sissies?!?
Woo boy, like rats on a sinking ship…
LOL
No I’m not a liar. If you think Basra has the same level of violence as bagdad or anything near it then you are foolin yourself. You people can’t just disagree with me, you have to call me a liar. Why can’t you be more civil. Keep your talk here and learn to grow up and speak like adults. Never seen a worse bunch except inside a bar of drunks.
For God’s sake woody.It’s in plain english, on every news outlet in the world, the PM says it.What part is a lie?
Roscoe, we do not take orders here, if you wanna be hall monitor you’ll hafta get yer own blog.
PED~~ditto.
To the more dense ones:The Headline is the British are leaving. They are not. If they were leaving, they would not keep several thousand troops there.It’s the same lie as saying anti-immigration, instead of anti-illegal immigration.It’s just another way of using the language to lie.
LOL
So what ARE they doing, exactly?!?
And: are they sissies for doing it?
LOL
“The Brits aren’t adding troops to the region, true.
And they aren’t keeping the same number, also true.
They’re withdrawing something north of 22.5% of their troops, true.
But this can’t be described in ANY WAY as leaving,…and, and, and they’re nothin’ but damn sissies anyway!!!”-Commander Codpiece Club
LOL
Commander Codpiece sez, “This Brit withdrawal is GREAT news, fellow Americans!
And when we whack the Baghdad moles with our surge, and said whacked moles head south Basra way, the fact that there’s fewer Brits there to keep ‘em in line is MEANINGLESS!!!
Don’t mean nothin’ cuz we’re not plannin’ on that happenin’. So it won’t. Simple as pie.
‘Course, if you doubt that, then take this: surgin’ just 21.5K troops won’t really whack many moles and drive ‘em south (yeah ‘course we’re callin’ that shot, pfffft).
No matter yer objections, no worries, fellow Americans!
Now gaze yer eyeballs on THIS codpiece, suckaz!!!”
LOL
That’s leadership, folks!-Jedi Prez W the Something Less Than Great, a.k.a., CCIC (Commander Codpiece in Chief)
If Bush’s Mission was Accomplished back in ‘03 like he said it was, why do we still need to be there? The Iraqi factions are going to sort it all out themselves anyway, so why are we stuck the crossfire? About time we moved!
The Pendant is on fire today. Keep up the good work!
Heh, Steven, these people like GSheridan and fleettwood kill me.
I don’t know how the skin on their noses can stand all the polishin’ they do, what with the close proximity to CCIC’s prostate their noses keep and the subsequent wipin’ off that (hopefully) necessitates.
If their loyalty to CCIC were sufficient for winning, we’d win then by god.
Unfortunately for the rest of us, the course he and they want us to keep ain’t a winnin’ one. Blind loyalty and mistakin’ a brown nose for virtue are by far the greater part of the problem here today in these United States than they are any part of its solution.
God, keepin’ Basra in line for 4 years just to be called sissies, now that’s killin’ me…LOL
Check: make that keepin’ Basra in line for 4 years while Baghdad goes to hell in a handbasket, and then bein’ called sissies for it.
LOL
I guess under Jedi Prez W TSLTG we’re down to a Coalition of the Whinin’.
I guess it is o k to just bash other people then and bring up stuff that has nothing to do with the headline. Then I can throw in a few cusses say you are idiots so that would be o k then.
Cuss away, Roscoe! Don’t let anybody here stop you. Oh, except the eds, and they aren’t real fond of the F word. Just thought I’d warn you.
Leaving, drawing down, pulling back, downsizing, whatever you want to call it, the Brits have had enough. Blair has already said he’ll be stepping down later this year. (Notice how he’s already distancing himself from the CICC?) And Howard isn’t getting along too well in the Down Under. (Didn’t even he say this mess is…a mess?) Do you think maybe we’ll get smart and follow the Mother Country?
Anybody want to lay odds that they’ll be talk of drawing down U.S. troops before summer arrives?
There are NO rules Roscoe.And shit, you think this blog is mean?You ain’t seen nuttin’.If you don’t like it here with all the terrible mean and nasty people,TRY ANOTHER BLOG.You know, vote with your feet.Every minute of the day, someone is creating a new blogspot.You can’t even review the new ones fast enough to keep up.
All that has to happen, (and I’ve said this before) is for Al-Maliki to ask the US to leave. We can then declare cooperation and/or victory and begin withdrawing.Nothing sissie about that.
Ped, that was a GREAT rant.
Roscoe – hang in there. You’ve just run into the librat bully-squad, a handful of liberal losers who think they can somehow justify their fanatical agenda by trying to ‘lord’ it over others here who disagree with them.
But underneath their gang mentality – each one is a dysfunctional dreg of society that needs moral support from the other dregs to feel worthy.
They attack in groups, a sure sign of cowardice, then they run home and cry to their mommies when they get their asses kicked.
Pay them no heed.
Each one of them sports a ‘victim mentality’ streak a mile wide.
Pussies.
GS, you don’t even believe in reality.REMEMBER?This whole existence is ONE BIG DREAM.REMEMBER?
So why should ANY of this matter?It’s all just one big dream.We don’t really exist.REMEMBER?
I REJECT your “philosophy” andsubstitute REALITY.
Isn’t leaving part of the plan?
This story in part illustrates whats wrong with the MSM’s coverage of the war. If there’s no bomb going off in Baghdad there’s no news. We never hear what’s going on in the rest of Iraq.
Your reality, TRACY-LEW is drawing a government check.
Isn’t it?
Sherry, you really need to get some new material.
Keep repeating, Tippy…..This is only a dream.This is only a dream.This is only a dream.This is only a dream.
BTW, I’m a white collar worker who negotiates my own wage, hours and benefits.Bet you can’t say that, dreamgirl.
I’m a business owner. You collect a disability check for a trumped-up injury.
Or are you know considering ‘envelope stuffing’ as a career?
lol
know – ‘now’
OMG, I am HOWLING at Pedant. You TOTALLY win this thread dude!!! Keep up the good work. Maybe the brain dead will go back to lonely blog!
“But underneath their gang mentality – each one is a dysfunctional dreg of society that needs moral support from the other dregs to feel worthy.”
heheheheheheheheheheheheheheh
This thread is FULL of laughs. Wiping tears of laughter now. And just FYI, for all the other dregs here, I really do appreciate your friendship and support. I feel veeeeeeeeeeery worthy today.
Who wants to bet that some of the trolls here, when they were little trollettes, were like the friendless child whose Mom had to tie a pork chop around the kid’s neck so the damn DOG would play with them…
It must be ever so lonely at the top.
I LOVE my low friends in low places…..
Don’t you have some bacon to burn, muff-diver?
The only fat in the fire I smell this morning belongs to the bushbots.
Muff diver? Damn, she must really be getting desperate. Should I call her a cock sucker? Naaaaaaa.
She’s so cute when she’s mad….
You got one thing right…. I AM cute.
But mad?
Never.
…and on that note – I’m off to rape and pillage the planet…..
hehehehehehehe I bet you are cute.
Until you open your mouth.
In my community, we would call someone like you a double bagger.
It would take TWO paper bags over your head to go on a date with you.
One to cover your head, and one to stuff in your mouth.
Yep, ol’ double bagger.
I hate participating with a run off topic. BUT GSheridan never addresses a thread topic and instead wants to make this foum her personal pissy show. Dear? I’ve you figured for a woman of at least 50 years. SO Why is it you have all the character and charm of a teenage punk? Did you see GSheridan where even our readers do not like you?
The headline on page 6A in today’s paper got it right.
Instead of the mis-leading headline of this thread:”While US Surging, British Leaving”the more correct”Britain to Withdraw some troops in Iraq” headline made it into the paper. Will wonders never cease?
HA!
WHEN GSheridan comes back to go off topic again, I leave this for her. This is a partial paste from one of our readers. It comes from yesterdays “firing” thread. “…I’m a news junkie who has been reading this blog for a year.GS is by far the most despised person here, who has only recently showed up and made quite a fool of herself in front of the whole world.” Thanks 5thdoc. My sentiments exactly.
GS. Now you’ve done it.Out and out slanderous lies.”You collect a disability check for a trumped-up injury.”
GS = LIAR.
That statement is complete BS and uncalled for.
I’m with the 5th.
This is ridiculous.
GS = SJ boards Tippy.Go read it.She doesn’t even believe in REALITY!And now it has taken to slander.Sweet.
All the while whining about a group of bullies here?Wow, Doc, whadya’ make of that.Projection?
Good to know Tracy. I was starting to worry that something new had happened to you.
What a bullshit LIAR!I’ve never collected disability.
I read in today’s US Today that 70% of Iraq’s oil is in and around Basra, and while safer than Baghdad, Basra was not safe.
The Shia militias are there in force and blackmarketing oil is the crime of choice! Iran also exerts influence there.
How long after the British leave will it be until we have to go back in there??
gster, as I am sure someone else will point out, there will still be ~5,000 Brits there mid-summer, given the projections, unless Mr. Blair’s successor in office determines it is in the best interest of the British to totally withdraw from Iraq upon his ascenision to the office of Prime Minister, which I understand is expected also in mid-summer.
The above is a distillation of information read/heard over the past 24 hours or so. I am wondering if the announced reduction is Mr. Blair’s attempt to provide political cover for the continuation of British presence in Iraq after he leaves office. I was also made aware by listening to the BBC early this morning of the Brits being the largest source of NATO troops in Afghanistan, which some military analysts “over there” believe is stretching their forces dangerously thin; a withdrawal of ~1600 from Iraq would ease this problem a bit, too.
The situation around Basra is far from ideal, as Mr. Blair stated in his remarks yesterday. The Shia are truly in control there, and again from recollection of the discussion, represent at least 80% of the Iraqis present in that region. There is little doubt in the minds of the Brits I heard talking that arms are coming from Iran; they do express doubt of the involvement (direct or indirect) the Iranian government at this time in the supply of munitions, but that cannot be proved or disproved at this time.
The attitude seems to be, IMHO, that the Brits have done their best to provide stability and training to the Iraqi forces in the area, and it is now the Iraqis’ problem with which to deal, the Brits to provide support and additional training by and through their continued military presence in the area.
VT- I agree with everything you said. I think that will the massive amount of $ there in oil, if the Iraqui Government doesn’t get their and control it, disasters will unfold after the Brits go.
As I recall, the USA Today article talked more about crime there, rather than insurgent activity.
There is little to discuss about this. The writer is a liar. They are reducing thier troops not leaving.
Good joke Ha. 1600 are leaving soon, 500 more shortly later. Meanwhile Bush is stupidly escalating his failed course.