Update [2007-2-20 17:33:30 by Rimjob]:





From BBC News:

Mr Blair is expected to say hundreds of troops will return from Basra within weeks with more to follow later. Some 7,000 UK troops are currently serving in Iraq and about 1,500 are expected to return within weeks. BBC political correspondent James Landale said: "We have been expecting an announcement for some time on this." He said by Christmas a total of 3,000 troops were expected to have returned to the UK from Iraq.

Update [2007-2-20 18:15:53 by Rimjob]:





From USA Today, the Bush Administration's reaction.....

President Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair spoke by telephone earlier today about the withdrawal, National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe confirmed this afternoon. "While the United Kingdom is maintaining a robust force in southern Iraq, we're pleased that conditions in Basra have improved sufficiently that they are able to transition more control to the Iraqis. The United States shares the same goal of turning responsibility over to the Iraqi Security Forces and reducing the number of American troops in Iraq," Johndroe said. "President Bush sees this as a sign of success and what is possible for us once we help the Iraqis deal with the sectarian violence in Baghdad," he added.

And according to the AP, that's how Blair is spinning it too.....

Blair said British forces had completed an operation to hand front-line security responsibility to Iraqis in Basra, where he said the security situation is different from what U.S. troops face in Baghdad. The transfer of front-line security is a significant step toward handing Iraqi authorities total control of Basra province. "The operation that we have been conducting in Basra is now complete and that operation has specifically been to put the Iraqi forces in the main front-line control of security in the city," Blair said.

If Tony Blair believes in "the mission" in Iraq so much & it's such a "success", why doesn't he send some of Her Majesty's soldiers to Baghdad?