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| Iraq |
| Rift between UK diplomats and Army in Basra |
| 2008-03-29 |
| For the first time since violence broke out on Tuesday, American and British warplanes carried out a bombing raids in Basra, and one Iraqi official conceded that coalition ground support was needed. While a British army spokesman ruled out intervention on the ground, diplomats in the Baghdad embassy lobbied for a signal from the UK that troops could be deployed. Christopher Prentice, the ambassador to Iraq, signalled his differences with the MoD in a statement. "British Coalition Forces, in their overwatch role, stand ready to support Iraqi Security Forces operationally, as and when the (government of Iraq) requests this," it said. But Major Tom Holloway, a spokesman for UK forces, said coalition intervention would be confined to "niche" capabilities. "We are providing them air power over the top of the city. The Iraqi air force does exist but doesn't yet have fast jets. We are also providing surveillance. We always plan for things like this but as we speak we are not planning to go to the city." |
| Posted by:Nimble Spemble |
| #4 The RN is also doing a great job of becoming a stealth force. |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2008-03-29 11:03 |
| #3 "The way I read it, the bulldog has been neutered." Yes. And soon there will no longer be a British Army. There will be an EU military under command from Brussels. There will no longer be a UK at that point either. What is now the UK will be provinces of the EU. |
| Posted by: crosspatch 2008-03-29 11:01 |
| #2 The way I read it, the bulldog has been neutered. Brown has held back so much in funds from MoD during his Chancellorship, and the MoD has priorities so bollixed that the troops in the field don't have the proper kit. And if they do go out they get killed, unless they survive in which case, they return to a society less welcoming than post-Vietnam America. Their strategy has been shown to be a failure to the comrades whom they so publicly denigrated. Look at all the posts about what is going on back in Britain. You want to die for all that? Britain is suffering from the coriolanus effect. Whether it will be out of the bowl and through the siphon is not conclusively demonstrated, but if not, it's still going to be one heck of a mess. |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2008-03-29 09:42 |
| #1 Is Brown holding the bulldog back? |
| Posted by: gorb 2008-03-29 02:50 |