Michael Smith, who brought us the Downing Street Minutes, has another scoop. The Brits have drawn up plans to beat it out of Iraq by the end of the year. Here are some excerpts:
BRITISH commanders in Iraq have drawn up plans to allow Gordon Brown to withdraw almost all UK troops by the end of the year.
The British commander in southern Iraq, Major-General Jonathan Shaw, produced a “commander’s tactical advice” several weeks ago, senior defence sources said last night. The advice was written for Lieutenant-General Nick Houghton, the chief of joint operations, in London after the Ministry of Defence asked for options that could be presented to Brown when he takes over as prime minister…
…Shaw’s advice suggested leaving a number of small training teams in the south to advise the Iraqi military forces but withdrawing the rest of the British troops by the end of December.
The sources emphasised that while the advice had been endorsed by Lamb, it had yet to win the backing of Houghton and had not gone to ministers.
“It won’t happen unless ministers say it is okay but in the circumstances it is impossible to see politicians going against the advice of two of the most experienced operational officers in the British Army,” one senior source said…
…The advice is expected to win the backing of General Sir Richard Dannatt, the chief of the general staff, who made clear last October that he believed his men should get out “some time soon because our presence exacerbates the security problems”…
Withdrawal from Iraq would be far from easy. A large number of armoured vehicles would have to be moved to the port of Um Qasr or Kuwait. Other equipment might have to be destroyed or handed to the Iraqi army.
“There are several contingency plans about exactly how British troops will get out,” one defence source said. “Whatever way we use it will be ugly.”
Imagine the spectacle of the Brits evacuating Iraq under duress, abandoning or destroying equipment and whatever else passes for ‘ugly’. Imagine them doing that this winter while the Americans remain entrenched further to the north. Is this our future?