Last goodbye for Basra troops - BBC Radio

BBC Scotland's Cameron Buttle reports from Basra as the last Scottish unit to serve in Iraq complete its tour of duty.

Smiles and sunshine as Scots troops come home safe from Iraq - The Scotsman

By JOHN ROSS
SHORTLY after noon they emerged from their plane into the sunshine – and a heroes' welcome featuring massed pipes and drams.

The last Scottish unit to serve in Iraq were back on home soil and ready for an emotional reunion with loved ones.

The 150 members of the RAF 51 Squadron and 2622 (Highland) Squadron of the Royal Auxiliary Air Force, who have spent the past six

months in Basra, were piped off the plane at RAF Lossiemouth, where a small crowd of families had gathered to witness their return.

Also waiting for them was a welcoming array of whisky supplied by a local distillery.

Group Captain Al Monkman, the base commander, paid tribute to the ground troops who were responsible for security at Basra airport and worked on "hearts and minds" operations, building relationships with the Iraqi people.

He said the troops had completed six months of hard work in 50-degree heat. "It's a selfless role they play looking after the lives of people in the base and, most importantly, getting outside the wire, talking to the locals and explaining to them why we are there and what we can do to help the Iraqis."

He said work in the region was paying off and there had "barely been a shot fired in anger" during the tour and no casualties. "Not only have the attacks on the base down there dwindled, but the local elections have had a kick-start," he said.

"There is now a generation of Iraqis for whom British troops is not a dirty word but a team of friendly people who came and helped their own security and left them in a better place.

"If you compare Iraq in 1990 to Iraq in 2009 it's nothing short of a transformation. These guys have added the last bricks to the wall. To leave a country in such good shape is a natural end to a campaign."

Group Capt Monkman said simple things such as a football match between the troops and an Iraqi village team showed the progress made: "Two or three years ago that would never have happened, and it was proof of the goodwill and the improved security situation."

While it is hoped they will not have to return to Iraq, the troops are already planning a return to Afghanistan next summer.

Group Capt Monkman said deploying to two wars has presented troops with a "challenging operational tempo" over the past few years. "Hopefully now we will get back working in a single theatre," he added.

At yesterday's homecoming there was relief from family as well as troops.

For Senior Aircraftsman Alan Wells, 22, it is only the second time he has seen his son Jake, who was born four months ago during a spell of leave. He and his partner, Amanda Orton, now plan to marry later this month.

He said: "It's great to be back and now I plan to spend as much time with Jake as possible."

Democracy is firmly rooted in Iraq - Reuters

British forces will leave Iraq this year with democracy "firmly rooted" and al Qaeda largely thwarted, a senior British army officer said in an interview published on Monday.

Lieutenant General John Cooper, outgoing deputy commanding general of the U.S.-led Multinational Force in Iraq, told the Guardian newspaper that a U.S. troop "surge" in 2007 and this year's provincial elections had been crucial in improving conditions.

The planned withdrawal of Western forces has sparked concerns about a power vacuum and a possible return to violence, six years after U.S. troops led an invasion to topple the government of Saddam Hussein.

"We have got democracy rooted here," Cooper said, "Clearly there is a long way to go to develop things. The provincial elections show that Iraqis have an appetite for it. They were free, fair and credible, and that reflects a desire for change."

The regional elections held on Jan. 31 were Iraq's most peaceful since the invasion, raising hopes that years of sectarian bloodshed and insurgency could be coming to an end.

The British general said support for al Qaeda had withered because insurgents had targeted the people they claimed to represent.

"They have suffered significant reverses and their ability to operate and target civilians has been diminished. Their organisational ability has been greatly reduced."

Britain's 4,100 troops will start pulling out of their base in the southerly oil city of Basra from May 31. The withdrawal will be complete by July 31, although 400 reserves will remain on the ground to help train Iraqi naval forces.

U.S. President Barack Obama said last week he would end U.S. combat operations in Iraq in 18 months' time, but leave as many as 50,000 troops there to provide stability. (Reporting by Matt Falloon; Editing by Kevin Liffey)

British commander says democracy rooted in Iraq

The senior British commander in Iraq said in an interview published Monday that democracy is now rooted in the country and al-Qaeda has largely been defeated there, as Britain prepares to pull out.

Lieutenant-General John Cooper, who stands down Tuesday as deputy commanding general in Iraq, told the Guardian newspaper that British troops will leave a better country when they withdraw by the end of July.

"We have got democracy rooted here," he said from Baghdad.

"Clearly there is a long way to go to develop things. The (January) provincial elections show that Iraqis have an appetite for it. They were free, fair and credible and that reflects a desire for change."

Cooper added: "Al-Qaeda had been here in significant numbers and hopefully their aims and objectives have been denied to them.

"The lesson that I draw from this is that an organisation like al-Qaeda that purports to represent the people and then targets them will never take the people with them."

The general said their organisational ability had been "greatly reduced", their means of communication and their funding disrupted and "effectively the size of their networks has been much reduced."

Cooper said the army's job had not been to resolve all Iraq's problems but set the conditions for change.

"They have a writ of national government, the growth of the internal security services. They have a well-defined legal system, a well-defined and understood legislative system and security structures that have grown," he said.

He also rejected suggestions that British forces would withdraw from their base at Basra airport only to be replaced by US forces.

Britain's role was to train the Iraqi army, and "we have done that", he said, adding: "The Americans are going to be doing something different."

VICTORY IN IRAQ - ALMOST

ARMY top brass last night claimed victory in the Iraq war as hero Brit troops prepare to leave the country.

With almost all Our Boys due home from the war-torn nation by the end of July, most people will be glad to see the back of a campaign which has cost 179 lives.

But despite the controversy over the invasion and the failure to find weapons of mass destruction, top UK officers and diplomats reckon the campaign was well worth it.

They say the peace and prosperity brought in the last year to Basra mean a bright future for Iraqis.

Once Iraqi forces had triumphed over the militias then running riot in 2008’s hard-fought Charge Of The Knights campaign, locals said Basra was transformed virtually overnight.

Up to 500 militants were killed and many more wounded in street fights as the Iraqi troops triumphed, backed by UK Challenger 2 tanks, artillery and supplies.

Now British top brass claim Basra is stable, secure and an example to the rest of Iraq.

They likened victory to a last-minute winning goal after a fiercely-contested football match.

Consul-general Nigel Hayward, the Foreign Office’s man in Basra, said: “It is like scoring a late winner but it wasn’t a fluke goal. For the last ten minutes of the match we were well on top.

“The military will move out and can do so knowing they’ve taken the best possible advantage since Charge Of The Knights.

“Some people say it’s a bad war gone good. But even those people have to admit at this stage it looks like we are on course for one of the few stable democracies in the Middle East.” And Mr Hayward is in no doubt who should take the most credit – the UK military and the families who have lost servicemen and women.

He added: “Without the sacrifices made by the 179 families who lost someone, we wouldn’t be in the
position we are in now, which is a very optimistic one for Iraq.

“The families can be proud of what their sons and daughters achieved.”

Lt Col Sadeq Barak, of Iraq’s 50th division, said: “I thank all the British soldiers because they were so helpful in making a democracy here in Iraq and sacrificed their lives for our country.”

Military spokesman Lt Col Dickie Winchester said: “We are in a successful place now. It feels like people are debating the causes of Dunkirk while we are driving to Berlin.”

And Major-General Andy Salmon, in charge of British and US forces in south-east Iraq, said the British public should recognise the job Our Boys have done.

He said: “All our people want is to be recognised for their heroism and for people to say their
sacrifice wasn’t in vain.

“Lots of people weren’t happy with the beginning of this. But we’d say what is important is not how it started, it is how it ends.

“They stuck through all the troubles, seeing their friends being killed, and they are still here.

“They’ve stuck to the task, adapted as they’ve gone along, rolled their sleeves up and got on with it. That’s a heroism and a commitment to the task of the highest order.”

Iraq will be left 'a better place' when army leaves - Telegraph

Democracy is "rooted" in Iraq and reflects a "desire for change", Lieutenant General John Cooper, Britain's deputy commanding general in the country has said, ahead of the British army's pull-out.

Lt Gen Cooper said January's nationwide provincial elections were a turning point in the country.

He was speaking in an interview with the Guardian newspaper ahead of standing down from his post in Iraq and retiring from the army.

He said: "We have got democracy rooted here. Clearly there is a long way to go to develop things.

"The provincial elections show that Iraqis have an appetite for it. They were free fair and credible and that reflects a desire for change."

Lt Gen Cooper was second in command only to US generals David Petraeus and Raymond Odierno. All three were responsible for the 150,000 coalition troops in Iraq.

He said that the coalition troops had forced al-Qaeda to retreat and diminished their ability to target civilians.

He told the Guardian: "Al-Qaeda had been here in significant numbers and hopefully their aims and objectives have been denied to them.

"The lesson that I draw from this is that an organisation like al-Qaeda that purports to represent the people and then targets them will never take the people with them.

"Their organisational ability has been greatly reduced. Their ability to communicate through the internet has been taken from them and so has their ability to finance themselves. Effectively the size of their networks has been much reduced."

His assessment comes after the Telegraph revealed that Britain will begin withdrawing troops from Iraq at the end of March.

The Foreign Secretary made the admission during a visit to Basra, when he announced that the pull-out would begin on March 31.

The exact date of the start of the withdrawal had remained secret amid fears that the announcement could spark unrest.

Basra prospects brighten as foreign investors line up - Daily Star, Lebanon

This year should be oil-rich Basra's best in decades, with foreign companies queuing up to invest there as long as Iraq's government lets them, the province's reconstruction boss told AFP. The number of firms visiting the southern port city, Iraq's third-largest, is now 20 a month, compared to two in the same period six months ago, said Keith Mackiggan of Britain's Department for International Development.

The victory of Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's allies in January's provincial election and the imminent arrival of a new administration in Basra will trigger an upturn in the area's fortunes, he said.

"Our job is going to get much easier in 2009 because it could not get any more difficult after the last local government," said Mackiggan, whose team is based within the sprawling military camp near Basra airport that is home to the British Army and diplomats.

"Maliki will have a say in who runs this place and after stabilizing the security situation he now has the incentive of national elections at the end of the year to deliver. If he doesn't he won't do well at the polls," he said.

Recent international investment visits coordinated by Mackiggan's team have included Schlumberger and Baker Hughes, two of the world's biggest oil and gas infrastructure groups.

Global courier DHL has also been in town, along with hotel operators, steel pipeline production companies and legal firms from Britain.

Having moved to Basra in September, Mackiggan was confronted with "an atmosphere of hopelessness" typified by poor public services and admits he was not optimistic.

Infrastructure is woeful, with few of the city's 1 million residents enjoying clean water, while power cuts are constant and unemployment hovers around 40 percent.

Many areas consist of stench-ridden, sewer-filled canals and vast tracts of rotting rubbish piled waist high along the potholed and dust-filled roads that lead to slums.

Mackiggan's team has helped train 2,700 engineers, planners and finance specialists to fix the problems but has seen local politics stop them from doing their jobs.

The previous provincial government was beset by rivalries among three main Shiite factions - the former rebel Supreme Iraqi Islamic Council, the smaller but influential Fadhila party and the popular, firebrand cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.

"Programs were not approved because of political reasons," said Mackiggan, describing how 32 signatures needed from warring parties made reaching an agreement impossible. "We called them the government of sidewalks because that is all they had time to change when they realized there was an election coming up."

The prime minister's State of Law coalition, however, secured an absolute majority in Basra in January's polls. With 20 out of 35 seats, it should now be able to push through the funding for key improvements.

"The political log-jam should now be cleared and Maliki has the incentive of the national elections to do that," Mackiggan said.

The improvement in Iraq's security in the past year has made international companies less wary of the country's recent past and more optimistic about its future, sparking investment visits.

Construction projects, religious tourism - from Iran in particular - and greater traffic of goods through the nearby port of Umm Qasr are all factors in securing future economic growth.

"This is an Aladdin's cave and what has been a trickle of visits is going to become a flood," Mackiggan said, acknowledging that companies still have to put their money where their mouth is and that government flexibility is needed.

"Converting investment proposals into contracts is the biggest task. There is some reticence in the national government and that has to be overcome," Mackiggan said.

But the Oil Ministry's announcement on Thursday of a joint venture being signed with a British company to set up a drilling company, Iraq's first such deal, signals that such barriers are starting to come down.

David Miliband Foreign Secretary blogs from Iraq

English at Al-Azhar
Al-Azhar mosque in Cairo sits at the heart of contemporary Sunni theology. I visited this week and heard the story of 1000 years of theological history that embraces Shi'a as well as Sunni teaching. And next to the mosque is a remarkable project run by the British council at Al-Azhar university, one of the oldest universities in the world, and now the proud home of a centre for English teaching.

The students and student teachers talked best. Drawn from five of the 63 faculties of the university, which has 400,000 students at a number of sites around Egypt, they spoke of their eyes being opened to another story of the West than that traditionally pumped out, they spoke of being a voice in their own country for that different image, and they spoke of the "fantastic...better than I could imagine" exchanges in Leeds and Cambridge. This is where the struggle for understanding, respect and coexistance is won. All being well there will be 500 students in the programme from September.
Posted at 14:39 28 February 2009 by David Miliband

Military withdrawal not British withdrawal
Over the next few months British forces will complete their mission in Basra. But British engagement should go up: in business, education and culture this city wants British partnership. We will keep our Consulate here. The Invest Iraq conference will promote business here. Basra has the chance of a better future.
Posted at 22:10 27 February 2009 by David Miliband

Basra Corniche on a Friday afternoon
If you had told me in December 07 when I spent a morning at Basra air base, and couldn't go off base, that 14 months later I would be chatting with Basrawis out with friends and family on the Corniche by the Shatt Al Arab waterway I would not have believed you. Not everyone goes for a walk with an armed escort but the Basrawis told me the same thing one after another: Basra security has been changed fundamentally, the big issue now is unemployment, the future is about Basra being a great city again. Iraqi leadership has been key but so has British military and civilian support. Police chief Adel has been given huge support from a UK police team. He spoke with pride about his force. Clean and efficient police are the difference between a city which functions and one which doesn't.
Posted at 22:09 27 February 2009 by David Miliband

Fundamental change of mission
Baghdad was a good place to mark President Obama's announcements on Iraq troop withdrawal. His announcement follows the same agreed pattern as that adopted by the UK: withdrawal of combat troops to fundamentally change the mission to one of training and mentoring. His announcement combines troop withdrawal with political commitment. I said yesterday in Baghdad that President Obama was proceeding with care and common sense. The commitment until August 2010 allows for critical US support through the National elections early next year. Then Iraqis will have their own future in their own hands.
Posted at 22:06 27 February 2009 by David Miliband

BBC Radio 4 interview with UK Foreign Secretary David Miliband from Iraq

Click the link to hear the Radio 4 podcast.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_7914000/7914175.stm

Iraqis 'impatient' for handover - BBC

Iraqis are "impatient" to run their own affairs once British and US troops have left the country, UK Foreign Secretary David Miliband has told the BBC.

On a visit to Iraq, he said 2008 had been a "critical year" for re-establishing security there.

The fact recent provincial elections had passed without incident had given a "new momentum", he added.

UK military operations in Basra are due to end by 31 May. Most US troops are expected to withdraw by August 2010.

US President Barack Obama is due to announce the withdrawal plans later although it is expected that up to 50,000 will remain in Iraq.

'Sustainable' gains
Mr Miliband told BBC Radio 4's Today programme politics in Iraq were now moving "onto a more normal basis" and the government could start concentrating on the economy and public services.

Having spoken to Iraqi PM Nouri al-Maliki and other Iraqi leaders, Mr Miliband said he believed gains made in Iraq were now "more sustainable".

"Every week that goes by I think strengthens Iraqi capacity and every week that goes by strengthens the confidence of the Iraqi people," he said.

He said in Basra, where British troops handed provincial control to the Iraqis in December 2007, politics had "re-emerged" and there had been big economic developments.

On Thursday Mr Miliband announced a £277m ($400m) joint venture involving a UK-based petroleum company drilling for oil in Iraq.

He said it sent a message to British firms Iraq was "open for business".
He said Iraq was rebuilding itself after years of suffering.

But he said the US had "enduring commitment" to improving local security forces after most troops leave.

"I think the Iraqis on the one hand are impatient to run their own affairs, on the other hand they recognise the vital and massive nature of the American contribution, and the help that it can give to them," he told the BBC.

"I think there is a real yearning here for Iraqis to run their own affairs, to make their own mistakes but also to make their own progress.

"What the Iraqis now need to focus on are issues like economics and the electricity supply which are the bread and butter of politics around the world."

UK forces have lost 179 troops since the 2003 invasion and have a 4,100-strong force in the country.

President Obama is due to announce later his plan to withdraw most US troops from Iraq by August 2010.

He is expected to say troop numbers will be reduced from the current 142,000 to about 50,000.

Iraq offers new lessons in counter-insurgency

British counter-insurgency doctrine, honed in Malaya, Aden, Oman and Northern Ireland, used to be regarded as the blueprint for other Western armies. But the experience of Iraq and Afghanistan and the rapidly evolving methods adopted by the Americans in particular have forced the British Army to reappraise its approach to guerrilla warfare.

Senior officers based at the Defence Concepts and Doctrine Centre at Shrivenham in Oxfordshire are poring over the lessons learnt from Operation Telic in Iraq, soon to be wound up, and Operation Herrick in Afghanistan which still has a long way to go.

In many ways, the fundamental framework for counter-insurgency campaigns remains as valid today as it was in Malaya and Northern Ireland. The principles of counter-insurgency were outlined by Lieutenant-General John Cooper, the outgoing British Deputy Commanding General Multinational Force Iraq in an interview with The Times in Baghdad last week: “You need a political not a military solution, the consent of the people, a long-term solution that’s sustainable, a neutralised enemy, achieved either kinetically or non-kinetically, and top-quality intelligence.

“The difference between Malaya and Iraq, however, is that Malaya was a classic counter-insurgency campaign but on a small scale, whereas Iraq has been a classic counter-insurgency campaign on a grand scale,” General Cooper said.

Afghanistan is proving to be in the same league, and while the two campaigns are very different in terms of security conditions and terrain, one of the abiding lessons from each is that to win the support of the local people it is imperative to provide visible signs as quickly as practicable of improving conditions, whether it be an increasingly available supply of electricity and clean water, or new roads, schools and health clinics.

Above all, of course, is the need to ensure the safety of the people, to protect them from the worst excesses of the insurgents and to separate them as far as possible from the violence and mayhem which are an inevitable consequence when foreign armies occupy a nation to subdue or eliminate the cause of the insurgency.

General David Petraeus, the former commander of the multinational force in Iraq and now head of US Central Command, placed this principle at the heart of his campaign after the surge of 30,000 extra US troops into Baghdad and Anbar. “If you bring the people with you, insurgencies can’t survive,” General Cooper said.

Al-Qaeda proved this point. The terrorist organisation applied the reverse principle. Instead of wooing the locals they committed atrocities to try to terrify the inhabitants into submission. The Taleban with their foreign fighters are doing the same in southern Afghanistan. Al-Qaeda’s approach failed but only after General Petraeus had poured his troops into the most unstable neighbourhoods and made them live among the people to demonstrate that they were their protectors.

The British in southern Iraq never had the troop numbers to live permanently among the people and when they moved out of Basra in September 2007 and took up residence at the airport base northwest of the city, they not only lost situational awareness but they left the inhabitants to the mercy of the Shia militants who were trying, despite the best efforts of the British-trained Iraqi Army 10th Division, to control the streets, with much of the corrupt police force on their side.

It took thousands of troops from Iraq’s 1st Division from Baghdad, linking up with the 14th Division which had replaced the 10th in Basra — a total of 27,000 soldiers — backed by 900 American minders, to seize back the city from the militia in Operation Charge of the Knights nearly a year ago. Since then, 850 British troops have returned to Basra and are embedded with Iraqi 14th Division units, mentoring their patrols and checkpoints before Operation Telic comes to an end on May 31.

Operation Charge of the Knights, an Iraqi government-inspired mission, succeeded because it had the full support of the citizens of Basra, and while the British contribution was limited, the overall impact on the city has been dramatic. So, not exactly a battle honour for the British Army, but a resounding success for the counter-insurgency principle of protecting the people from violence.

With the militia gone, Major-General Andy Salmon, in command down south, has begun implementing a programme in Basra which he hopes will improve the average Iraqi’s life in the city. General Salmon, commander of Multinational Division Southeast, has formed joint reconstruction action teams to clear the city of rubbish and focus on delivering essential services — electricity, water and a proper sewerage system. It took him four months to find an Iraqi engineer who knew about the water system at the Shia flats in Hayania, the worst slum area in the south of the city.

The Royal Marine general has succeeded in energising the members of the Basra provincial council to spend time and money on sprucing up the city. He and the quiet behind-the-scenes diplomacy of Nigel Hawyard, the Consul General, and the British Provincial Reconstruction Team, led by Keith Mackiggan, who have been able to get out and about in Basra far more since Charge of the Knights, are helping to give the people of this city renewed hope for the future.

August 31, 2010: Obama names the day for Iraq war to end but up to 50,000 U.S. soldiers to stay - Daily Mail

President Obama has announced that the war in Iraq would end in 18 months.

Formally announcing a withdrawal date for most U.S. troops he said: ‘Let me say this as plainly as I can, by August 31, 2010, our combat mission in Iraq will end.’

He added: ‘We cannot sustain indefinitely a combat that is putting a strain on the American military and has cost nearly a trillion dollars.’

The confirmation of his election campaign pledge to draw the conflict to a close came as Britain’s Foreign Secretary claimed the Iraqis were ‘impatient’ to take control over their own affairs.

While visiting British troops in Basra yesterday, David Miliband said conditions in Iraq are improving every week and the country is ‘yearning’ to make its way after almost six years of occupation.

But while just a few hundred UK troops will remain after Britain pulls out of Iraq for good in July, Mr Obama was criticised by leaders in his Democrat party last night for planning to leave a U.S. force of between 30,000 and 50,000 in the country until the end of 2011.

The President said the troops were needed to train and equip the Iraqi army, protect civilian reconstruction projects and conduct limited counterterrorism operations.

Republicans in Congress also complained that pulling out troops too fast could sacrifice security gains.

The President said Iraq had weathered ‘horrific’ sectarian killings in 2006 and 2007 but that violence had now been substantially reduced, while the capabilities of its security forces, rebuilt after the U.S.-led invasion, had improved.

But he warned: ‘Iraq is not yet secure, and there will be difficult days ahead. Violencewill continue to be a part of life in Iraq.'

‘Too many fundamental political questions about Iraq’s future remain unresolved.’
The announcement came just hours after it was confirmed a ban on photographing soldiers' flag-draped coffins on their return to the States would be lifted.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates has decided to allow photos of caskets at Dover Air Force Base, Delaware, if the families of the fallen troops agree.

The current ban was put in place nearly 20 years ago by President George H.W. Bush to prevent widespread negative publicity of bodies being brought back from the first Gulf War.

Regional Courthouse Ready to Serve Justice in Basra

Hundreds of people celebrated the dedication yesterday of a new six-court regional justice courthouse, slated to become the highest court in Iraq's Basra province.

"This courthouse will be a monument of justice," Medhatt al-Mahmoud, chairman for the Iraqi Judiciary Commission, said. "Iraqi justice is very strong. It will not allow outside influences to keep it from serving justice."

The regional courthouse is a $10 million, U.S.-funded project, and is scheduled to become operational in about 10 days. It will serve as the highest court in the province, handling civil and criminal cases.

It took Iraqi contractors about a year to complete the building, with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers providing oversight.

In addition to courtrooms, the facility includes investigation rooms, legal offices, a conference room and staff training facilities.

"This is a symbol of the establishment of the rule of law and an increase in the judicial capacity," British Royal Marine Maj. Gen. Andy Salmon, commander of Multi-National Division - Southeast, said. "This is exactly what is required at this stage on the road from where we've been to where we've got to get to, which is a stable and peaceful Basra."

Obama outlines Iraq pullout plan -BBC

President Barack Obama has announced the withdrawal of most US troops in Iraq by the end of August 2010.

In a speech at a Marine Corps base, he said the US "combat mission" in Iraq would officially end by that time.

But 35,000 to 50,000 of the 142,000 troops now in Iraq will stay on into 2011 to advise Iraqi forces, target terror and protect US interests.

Mr Obama praised the progress made but warned: "Iraq is not yet secure, and there will be difficult days ahead."

Some Democrats are concerned that the timetable falls short of his election pledges on troop withdrawal.

Mr Obama had said previously that he would completely pull out troops within 16 months of taking the top job.

Earlier this month, he ordered the deployment of up to 17,000 extra US troops to Afghanistan, saying they had been due to go to Iraq but were being redirected to "meet urgent security needs".

'Hard-earned progress'

In his address at Camp Lejeune, a Marine Corps base in North Carolina, Mr Obama said his national security team had drawn up a "new strategy" for US involvement in Iraq.

The strategy recognised that the long-term solution in Iraq must be political and that the most important decisions about its future must now be made by Iraqis, he said.

"We have also taken into account the simple reality that America can no longer afford to see Iraq in isolation from other priorities: we face the challenge of refocusing on Afghanistan and Pakistan; of relieving the burden on our military; and of rebuilding our struggling economy - and these are challenges that we will meet."

Mr Obama said all US troops would have left Iraq by the end of 2011, in line with an agreement signed between the two countries last year.

The president recognised that the conflict had been "a long war" and paid tribute to US forces who have served in Iraq.

"Thanks to the sacrifices of those who have served, we have forged hard-earned progress, we are leaving Iraq to its people, and we have begun the work of ending the war."

He also announced that his administration would increase the numbers of soldiers and Marines, in order to lessen the burden on those now serving, and was committed to expanding veterans' health care.

Addressing the Iraqi people directly, Mr Obama said theirs was "a great nation" that had persevered with resilience through tyranny, terror and sectarian violence.

He went on: "So to the Iraqi people: let me be clear about America's intentions. The United States pursues no claim on your territory or your resources.

"We respect your sovereignty and the tremendous sacrifices you have made for your country. We seek a full transition to Iraqi responsibility for the security of your country."

The two nations would build a future relationship based on mutual interest and respect, he said.

Mr Obama said there were important lessons to be learned from the Iraq conflict - among them that the US must go to war with clearly defined goals, that it must weigh the costs of action and "communicate those costs candidly to the American people".

As a result of these lessons, he had ordered a review of US policy in Afghanistan, he said, and put the costs of Iraq and Afghanistan into the federal budget.

Stressing that Iraq's future was inseparable from that of the broader Middle East, Mr Obama said the US would now "pursue principled and sustained engagement with all of the nations in the region, and that will include Iran and Syria".

The new US ambassador to Iraq would be Christopher Hill, the former US chief negotiator with North Korea, the president added.

'Still dependent'

The withdrawal plan is a middle way between the speedy reduction Mr Obama envisaged during his election campaign and the slower one some military leaders may prefer, BBC North America editor Justin Webb says.

Mr Obama wants only two combat brigades to leave this year but after December elections in Iraq the pace should quicken, our correspondent says.

The BBC's Mike Sergeant in Baghdad says that security in Iraq is now better and people say they are ready for US forces to leave.

However, some people are deeply worried about what exactly will happen when US combat troops disappear, our correspondent says.

While Iraqi forces are much better trained and equipped than before, they are still dependent on US troops for support in many areas, our correspondent adds, and a great deal of American financial and political support may be needed for years to come.

'Too many'

Democrats have expressed concern that the troop withdrawal is being watered down.

Speaking before Mr Obama briefed Congressional leaders about the plan on Thursday, Democratic Speaker Nancy Pelosi said 50,000 troops seemed too many for a residual force and needed to be justified.

However, other sceptics have expressed concern that a fast withdrawal could reverse the dramatic but fragile gains in security in Iraq.

John McHugh, the top Republican on the House armed services committee, said after the briefing that Mr Obama had promised the pullout strategy would be revisited if violence in Iraq increased.

Iraq not fazed by pending US pullout: Maliki

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki insisted on Thursday he was not fazed by a US withdrawal from the violence-scarred country as President Barack Obama prepared to announce a timeline for pulling out the troops.

"We have faith in our armed forces and our security services, to protect the country and consolidate security and stability," he said during talks with visiting Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed al-Sabah.

"We have no worries for Iraq if American troops pull out," Maliki added, according to a statement from his office. "Thank God we have succeeded in ridding ourselves of sectarianism and racism."

Obama, who took office in January, was due to reveal his timeline for withdrawing US troops from Iraq on Friday during a visit to a Marine Corps base at Camp LeJeune, North Carolina.

Earlier this month, he approved an extra 17,000 soldiers for Afghanistan, confirming that Washington's focus was shifting from Baghdad to Kabul as the security situation in Iraq improves.

US officials have said that after weeks of discussions with top military commanders Obama is now leaning towards a 19-month Iraq pullout option rather than the 16-month target he backed when campaigning.

The Iraq drawdown is expected to allow more US troops to be deployed to Afghanistan, where the 17,000 troops will add to the 36,000-strong US force already there.

There are 142,000 American troops stationed in Iraq.

In an address to Congress on Tuesday, Obama said he was "now carefully reviewing our policies in both wars.

"I will soon announce a way forward in Iraq that leaves Iraq to its people and responsibly ends this war," he said.

Under a so-called Status of Forces Agreement signed with Baghdad last year, Washington agreed to withdraw all its combat troops by the end of 2011.

"It appears he's leaning to the 19-month option," an official said in Washington. "I think that's the way it's going." But he added that there was still "no final decision."

Military officers presented Obama -- an opponent of the US-led war on Iraq in 2003 -- with three options for the withdrawal, with deadlines of 16 months, 19 months and 23 months, officials said.

At least 4,249 US military personnel have died in Iraq since the invasion, according to an AFP tally based on the independent website www.icasualties.org.

Meanwhile Foreign Secretary David Miliband of Britain, which will withdraw its 4,100 remaining troops in July, flew in to Baghdad on a previously unannounced visit for talks with Iraqi leaders.

His arrival amid a flurry of diplomacy at a time of improved security in the country coincided with a landmark visit by Sheikh Mohammed in the highest-level visit since Saddam Hussein's forces invaded Kuwait in 1990.

Miliband was expected to meet British troops in the southern province of Basra where on January 1 they transferred control of Basra airport, Britain's main military base in the south, to Iraqi officials.

British troops withdrew from Basra city last September and transferred security control of the province some three months later after controlling it since the invasion.

On a visit to Iraq in December British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said his country's remaining troops would leave by the end of July, but their mission would already be complete "by the end of May, or earlier."

Iraq open for business - Miliband - BBC

Foreign Secretary David Miliband has declared Iraq "open for business" and a good place for UK firms to do business, during a surprise visit to the country.

After meeting his Iraqi counterpart, Mr Miliband told a press conference the UK was committed to investing in Iraq.

The UK-based Mesopotamia Petroleum Company has just agreed a £277m ($400m) joint venture to drill for oil in Iraq.

Mr Miliband is expected to visit British forces in Basra on Friday, as they prepare for withdrawal in July.

He will also meet Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki during his two-day visit, his first since April 2008.

UK forces have lost 178 troops since the 2003 invasion and currently have a 4,100-strong force in the country.

They handed over control of Basra airport, the main military base in southern Iraq, on 1 January and have been training the Iraqi army.

UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown has said Britain's mission will be completed "by the end of May, or earlier" and withdrawal is scheduled by the end of July.

Mr Miliband told the press conference: "With the improving security situation... our relationship becomes one defined not just by defence and security but also by politics, by economics, by culture and by education."

The deal between the Mesopotamia Petroleum Company and Iraq's oil ministry will see 60 oil wells drilled per month, each producing 2,000 barrels of crude per day.

"This sends an important signal, not just to the people of Iraq about the long-term economic commitment of Britain to Iraq, but also... to British business [that] Iraq is open for business," said Mr Miliband.

Iraqi leaders recently invited foreign firms to invest in the oil-rich state as security improves.

Praise for Obama

Mr Miliband said a number of UK companies were already interested, not just within the oil industry but in sectors such as education.

"Britain will be a major investor in Iraq," he added.

Mr Miliband also praised US President Barack Obama's administration for its careful and "wholly appropriate" approach to pulling out troops.

Mr al-Maliki has said his country was not worried by Mr Obama's plans for an accelerated withdrawal, as the president prepares to announce a timeline for the process.

The Foreign Office said Mr Miliband's discussions with Mr al-Maliki were likely to focus on trade, education and cultural links, the Middle East peace process and human rights.

Students taking advantage of a UK-funded scholarship scheme to help bright Iraqis attend university in Britain will also talk to Mr Miliband about the scheme.

Collusion claims

Mr Miliband's visits comes after senior figures including French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier also visited the country this month.

He arrived in Iraq as the UK government faced claims of collusion with US authorities by handing over terror suspects in the country.

Defence Secretary John Hutton said two men detained in 2004 were transferred to US custody and then transported to Afghanistan for questioning.

The government had previously insisted Britain had no direct involvement with these "extraordinary rendition" flights.

Mr Hutton apologised for past incorrect answers given to MPs. Mr Miliband last year admitted two rendition flights had landed to refuel on UK territory in 2002.

The Cambs man who helped make Basra safe

A homecoming parade next month will welcome the Royal Anglian Regiment - known as The Poachers - back from their second tour of Iraq. Their commanding officer, Lieutenant Colonel Simon Browne from Little Paxton, told ANGELA SINGER how different Basra was from the regiment's first blistering tour in 2006 to when it left a calm city in November 2008.

IN 2006 a mission to arrest one man in Basra (whose identify can still not be revealed) involved 24 armoured vehicles and 400 soldiers from the British Army.

Lieutenant Colonel Simon Browne was involved in the action.

"We went to the house and the bloke had done a runner. We had the helicopters out and we were there for 45 minutes fighting with the local militia in the street.

"The irony was that we did get the man in the end but he turned out to be the wrong person."

At this time the British Army in Basra was under siege. Lt Col Brown, 41, a former Kimbolton School pupil who trained at Sandhurst, said: "It was pretty dreadful. We were staying in Basra Palace, the former palace of Saddam Hussein and it was rocketed four or five times a day.

"There was one occasion when we were attacked by 47 missiles in 24 hours. Every time we went out of the gate to get supplies, we had to fight our way in and fight our way out."

When the regiment returned, two years on, in May 2008 - staying there until November - their mission was as different as the atmosphere in the city. This time the Poachers were training the Iraqi Army which was in charge of the city after defeating the militia.

"There has been a huge transformation. The Iraqi Prime Minister (Jawad al-Maliki) had realised that 80 per cent of the wealth of Iraq lies in Basra - that's where the oil is and it is critical for the country's future.

"The Iraqi Army went into the city and pushed the militia aside.

"We realised that there was no need for big groups of British soldiers so we formed small groups and embedded ourselves in the Iraqi Army as mentors. They knew they needed help.

"When we first got there, they had had a long battle with the militia - a trained army can always win a guerrilla war, what is difficult is maintaining the victory."

In two years the atmosphere had changed to another extreme, says Lt Col Browne.

"I went back to the same part of town, sitting in a Ford pick-up truck with a fellow officer and I was not even wearing my helmet.

"I went to the mosque along with hundreds of Iraqis to attend a funeral and I was treated as a guest of honour. I was treated as a guest of honour 24 hours a day for seven months - where before we needed 400 soldiers, often there were now just four of us."

This time, the regiment's mission was to help the Iraqi Army keep law and order and facilitate the rebuilding of Basra - a task that proved to be impossible in 2006.

"It was like Germany after the Second World War - if you don't allow anyone connected with the old regime to get involved, then you have very few people with any experience.

"I knew how to get NGOs (non-governmental organisations) and charities to do the work - but they will only work in Iraq it if it is safe enough."

Lt Col Browne was involved with an important leap forward for Basra, helping to place a contract that allowed $1.5million of repairs to a major power station.

"On the previous tour, we were lucky to get as much as a school repainted."

Now he has completed his two and a half-year tour, and after 28 years in the Army, he says with a sigh that he will now be consigned to a desk job, based near Salisbury assisting with matters of personnel.

But he says Basra is now restored as a safe city and the British Army's mission in that area is nearing completion.

"Women are walking about in western clothes, wearing make-up, going about arm in arm with their partners.

"Iraq has a secular culture, similar to Turkey - people drink alcohol there. One officer said it was safer than Manchester - he was criticised for that but he does have a point.

"After the war people supported the militia but then they saw that they were driven by the fundamentalists. They were used to a secular society, they had given the militia a chance but the Iraqi Army is popular in society and when they stepped up, people thought thank God - they didn't want women murdered and people killed for listening to western music."

Lt Col Browne, who is married with two sons aged 11 and eight, and a daughter aged five, said: "The Iraqis love the British - the Iraqi Army was formed by the British and it is a close copy of it. They say that the British as very good at making friends of their enemies and it's true."

Obama Expected to Set Date for Iraq Pullout - Washington Post

President Obama is expected to announce as early as Friday that he will remove all U.S. combat troops from Iraq by August 2010, three months later than promised during his campaign, U.S. officials said.

Obama has not made a final decision on the matter, but it could come during a trip to give a speech in North Carolina on Friday, the officials said.

"He is approaching a decision on this very soon," said one official, speaking, as others did, on the condition of anonymity because no announcement has been made. A senior administration official said Tuesday night that Obama is "nearing a decision" but insisted that no final plans had been made.

The withdrawal timetable of about 19 months was one of several options outlined for Obama by Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Michael Mullen, including a faster schedule of 16 months and a slower plan of 23 months, one official said. "The risks are different with each option, and there are pros and cons of each one," he said.

"It's the president's desire to conduct a responsible drawdown that won't put at risk the gains and allows for the protection of the troops," he said.

In his address to a joint session of Congress last night, Obama said he and his national security team are "now carefully reviewing our policies in both wars, and I will soon announce a way forward in Iraq that leaves Iraq to its people and responsibly ends this war."

About 142,000 U.S. troops are in Iraq, including 14 combat brigades of about 4,000 troops each and tens of thousands of support forces. The Obama withdrawal plan would leave a residual force of as many as 50,000 support troops that would advise Iraqi forces and perform other security missions, the officials said.
"It will require a significant number of troops to train the Iraqi military, conduct targeted counterterrorism operations and protect American personnel and assets," said another U.S. official. Gen. Raymond T. Odierno, the senior U.S. commander in Iraq, is working out the details of the composition of the residual force, he said.

Obama's expected decision would set in motion a major logistical effort by the U.S. military of pulling out a combat brigade about every five weeks.

The timing of the Iraq withdrawal was not determined by Obama's recent announcement of a troop increase in Afghanistan, the officials said, although senior Army and Marine Corps leaders have often said that the availability of reinforcements for Afghanistan will depend on the pace of removing troops from Iraq.

The decisions will keep the total number of U.S. combat brigades deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan at a relatively high level for at least the next year and a half, exerting continued stress on U.S. ground forces wearied from repeated tours.

"This next 24 months is a critical 24 months in many ways," Mullen told reporters last Friday, saying that the U.S. military had to accept important risks around the world as a result of having so many of its forces rotating in and out of Iraq and Afghanistan.

"If we have a significant ground force forward in some other place, that would create huge challenges for us," said Mullen, who recently completed a global risk assessment.

"We are taking more long-term risk, because I don't have the forces out to be engaged and developing relationships," Mullen said. He said that challenge would be alleviated after the Army and Marine Corps complete their planned growth, which will add several more ground combat brigades to the total available to deploy.

Proud Heroes on march - The Sun

TROOPS who served in Iraq march proudly through London yesterday cheered on by crowds.

A total of 120 members of the 7th Armoured Brigade were given a rousing welcome after six months helping Iraqi forces keep the peace in Basra.

They later attended a reception with MPs at the Houses of Parliament.

Defence Secretary John Hutton told them: “I am sure everyone in the country is proud of you.”
Brigadier Sandy Storrie said: “This is a great honour. We had a successful time out there and this is a full recognition of what my soldiers achieved.”

Watford residents urged to support homecoming march

An army colonel has challenged 10,000 people to turn up to support local soldiers as they prepare to march proudly through the streets of Watford.

Lieutenant Colonel Simon Browne, of The 2nd Battalion, The Royal Anglian Regiment, the urged residents to give the soldiers a hero's homecoming – regardless of their views on the war in Iraq.

The battalion, better know simply as The Poachers, recruits across Hertfordshire and currently has many members from Watford itself.

In November, The Poachers returned from a six-month tour of Iraq, and Lt Col Browne says the troops deserve a warm welcome home.

He said: “The guys always look forward to these sort of things because, lets be honest, it is a chance to show off.

“But we call it a homecoming parade and we call it that because many of us are actually coming home and it is a way of the guys being recognised by the communities they come from.

“It is also a way of giving the people of Watford the chance to thank the guys for what they do.”

The parade will be held on Wednesday, March 11, when the soldiers will leave Lower High Street at 12.30pm, and march across Exchange Road into the High Street.

There will then be a short civic ceremony and an inspection of the troops, before the soldiers march on into The Parade.

There they will be dismissed before attending a civic reception in their honour.

Lt Col Browne is expecting a “big full-blown parade” involving about 300 soldiers, a band and lots of “pomp and circumstance”.

He added: “It is a huge honour to be able to march through a town like this because cities and town's don't give us the honour lightly so it will definitely be a huge honour for us.

“It also symbolises the very close relationship we have with the recruitment are.”

The Poachers were in Basra, in southern Iraq, for six months in 2006, leaving behind “one of the most violent places in the world”.

Two soldiers in the battalion lost their lives during the dangerous tour, while 23 were wounded.

Lt Col Browne, however, says the city, with the help of the British troops stationed there, is now a safe, civilised place.

During the last tour, from May to November last year, no soldier from The Poachers was injured.

He says Basra is now a “fantastic, peaceful, fully-functioning city”.

“The great frustration we had in Iraq is that it is a classic case of good news not being good news.

“People who will instinctively be against what we do have a certain view, and in my opinion, it is a pretty jaundice view of what has been going on in Iraq.”

He added: “We do what we have been told, because that is what the army does.

“People might not fully support the war and not fully understand the politics behind it but the guys go there with no agenda, they do the job to the best of their abilities and they have met a huge, huge challenge to help a city that was in a pretty bad state.”

Lt Col Browne also challenged as many people as possible to come and cheer on the parade, warning Watford could be outdone by other towns and cities in the UK.

“All I would say is when our 1st Battalion came back from Afghanistan Norwich managed to get 10,000 people onto the street to support them.

“So there is a challenge – be better than Norwich.”