BAGHDAD, Oct. 8, 2007
U.K. To Halve Iraq Forces By Spring
Prime Minister Says 2,500 British Troops Will Remain In "Overwatch" Role
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An Iraqi police officer holds his weapon as Iraqi medical workers protest in Baghdad's Sadr City, Oct. 7, 2007. Medical staff demanded better pay and working conditions for those in conflict areas, as well as denouncing accidental shootings of staff members by U.S. and Iraqi soldiers. (AP Photo/Adil al-Khazali)
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Plainclothes contractors working for Blackwater USA take part in a firefight as Iraqi demonstrators loyal to Muqtada Al Sadr attempt to advance on a facility being defended by U.S. and Spanish soldiers in this, April 4, 2004 file photo from the city of Najaf. (AP Photo/Gervasio Sanchez)
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Prime Minister Gordon Brown gives a statement on Iraq in Parliament, Monday, Oct. 8, 2007, in London. (AP Photo/PA)
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Brown told Parliament he planned "from next spring, to reduce force numbers in southern Iraq to a figure of 2,500." Decisions about further cuts will be made once that reduction is complete, he said.
The announcement comes just six days after Brown said 1,000 British service members would come home from Iraq by the end of 2007. He made the statement during a surprise trip to Iraq to meet senior military and civilian leaders from Iraq, the U.S. and Britain.
He told lawmakers Monday, "this is the long term strategy for overwatch," referring to his government's plan to end combat duty for U.K. service members in Iraq, instead having them in training roles working with Iraqi nationals.
``We plan to move to a second stage of overwatch, where the coalition would maintain a more limited re-intervention capacity and where the main focus will be on training and mentoring,'' Brown said.
Around 500 British logistics and support staff will be moved outside Iraq, but in the Middle East region, to support the remaining troops, Brown said. Officials said they are likely to be based in Kuwait.
Iraqi interpreters or civilian staff employed by British forces for more than 12 months will be given financial aid to resettle, leave the country or be cleared ``in agreed circumstances, for admission to the U.K.,'' Brown said.
Britain has about 5,500 soldiers based mainly at an air base on the fringes of the southern city of Basra, Iraq's second-largest city, 340 miles southeast of Baghdad.
They vacated their last remaining downtown base in Basra in September, accelerating calls from the British public to drawdown some forces.
Meanwhile, an official Iraqi investigation into a deadly shooting involving Blackwater USA security guards has raised the number of Iraqis killed to 17. It also found the gunfire was unwarranted and amounted to a deliberate crime. It recommends those involved face trial.
The Blackwater guards are accused of opening fire on Iraqi civilians in a main square in Baghdad last month. The guards have said they came under fire first.
The incident has outraged Iraqis.
Separately, a joint U.S.-Iraqi commission has met for the first time to review American security operations after the shooting.
The commission, chaired by Iraqi Defense Minister Abdul-Qader al-Obeidi and U.S. Embassy Deputy Chief of Mission, Patricia A. Butenis, expressed "mutual commitment of the Iraqi government and the U.S. government to work together to evaluate issues of safety and security related to personal security detail operations in Iraq," the brief embassy statement said.
The commission is expected to issue recommendations to both Baghdad and Washington on improving Iraqi and U.S. security procedures, with the "goal of ensuring that personal security detail operations do not endanger public safety" and prevent similar incidents in the future.
The North Carolina-based security company contends its employees came under fire first, but the Iraqi government and witnesses have disputed that.
In other developments:
A separate case being investigated, involving U.S. troops, highlights the difficulty faced by all members of the American contingency in Iraq - military or contractor; knowing who to shoot at, and when.
When U.S. sentries fatally shot three guards near an Iraqi manned checkpoint south of Baghdad, they thought they were targeting enemy fighters planting roadside bombs, according to the American commander of the region.
© MMVII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Add a Comment See all 86 Comments
- Nancy_Naive,
Your response is a total cop-out. Yesterday you started your tirade on how our troops are targeting children in Iraq and inferred that our military indiscriminately bombs with impunity. As proof you come back saying, "...we build a weapon that can hit +/- 10m from its aimpoint and the smallest is 500-kg, then civilians are targets." Given your definition, anything in the battlefield could potentially target civilians. Never thought a word like %u201Ctarget%u201D could ever be blurred.
WW II was a different time, fought under entirely different circumstances. When Japanese forces were being defeated in the South Pacific, the Japanese Emperor basically armed every man, woman and child in Country. Historians have said that had the American forces invaded Japan, the cost in lives over an extended period of time, would have been in the millions (on both sides).
It''s been fun discussing this with you...gotta do some work now.
Honest Regards! - Reply to this comment
- The Brits at least have some sense and are getting their guys out of there. We need to do the same.
- Reply to this comment
- Good on yer, Gordon. Glad to see the Brits pulling out, now that Blair''s Poodle is no longer in office. And it''s okay to do the B.S. routine of pretending the Iraqis are now in control and it''s "mission accomplished". Just get the h-ell out of there and let the civil war take its course.
- Reply to this comment
- Nancy_Naive,
I was referring to the Iraq war.
In World War II we also fire bombed 2-3 Japanese cities prior to Hiroshima and Nagaski. The Fallujah bombings targeted insurgent strong holds. True, many civilians were killed, but they were not targeted. Several combat videos were even released by the military. In an effort to serve their own agenda, some websites have taken these videos and cropped the beginning and end thereby altering the context of the event. - Reply to this comment
- Posted by Nancy_Naive at 06:46 PM : Oct 08, 2007,
Yes, alot of civilians die in war, but don''t they say,"All''s fair in love and war?" Maybe that''s why war should be the last option one takes; it''s not good for living things. - Reply to this comment
- "4 words -- Dresden, Cologne, Hiroshima, Nagaski."
You left out a few like: Warsaw, London, Moscow, etc. - Reply to this comment
- Hey Suhalia,er,Suaaaaaaaaammad,er, whatever. Hollyland is in California!
- Reply to this comment
- David Petraeus, says the war is working and that we need only stay there for a little longer to get the iraqi army ready to take over the fight, so keep repeating your lies on every website, forum, or media outlet you can find because that turns it into truth, right? If Millions of people are saying it, then it must be true.
Posted by wes4001 at 02:11 PM : Oct 08, 2007
You are right. The war is working for CHENEY''''S Halliburton and those Arab Oil Buisness men who are enjoying sky high oil profit.
Iraqi Army taking over the fight?
That''''s funny.
Iraqi Army under the leadership of ISLAMIC RADICAL "MALIKI" is already fighting against US Troops by the money given to their AYATOLLAHS in the name of REBUILDING IRAQ and the WEAPONS and TRAINING GIVEN to them in the name of ARMING IRAQI SECURITY FORCES. The same Iraqi soldiers who get trained by our troops in the day light shoot at their instructor in the darkness of night by our TAX DOLLARs and we can''''t do anything about that as bush failed us big time in this war.
Do you really think, Bush is on a mission of god? - Reply to this comment
- wes4001,,,, Your facts come from what ???
Posted by j-whitman at 04:02 PM : Oct 08, 2007
Halliburton and Crawford, TX - Reply to this comment
- wes4001,
Where''s the political progress wes? Seriously, tell us all about the political progress taking place in Baghdad. In fact, they aren''t even trying anymore. Our main goal in Iraq isn''t even something the Iraqis are even working on anymore. And, the God Petraeus has said there is no military solution. - Reply to this comment
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