Hopes for a fast removal of the British forces from Iraq seem to have weakened. A British minister said yesterday that the current force level in Iraq was required for the protection of the troops.
Bob Ainsworth, the Armed Forces minister, told the Commons’ defense committee that the Iraqi forces are still unable to provide enough protection. The British forces remain as the ‘backbone of stability’ in Iraq, he said.
Gen Sir Richard Dannatt, the Army’s head, also confirmed that there was ‘almost no capability to react to the unexpected’ in the Iraqi soldiers. He said this in a memorandum passed to The Daily Telegraph on which Mr. Ainsworth was inspected.
Mr. Ainsworth told the MPs, -
It’s no secret that with that amount of people deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan that there are not huge resources around for contingencies and other things that may arise.
Ainsworth revealed that the British Army has nearly run out of reserves. He also admitted that there was ‘not much left in the locker’.
He seemed to pierce Gordon Brown’s plans for decreasing the number of troops in Iraq, by acknowledging the fact that - ‘we are approaching the levels where we go no further’, that is, beyond the current stage of 5,000 troops.
The Iraqi army troops in Iraq are trained by the Macedonian Special Forces, who are a division of the US led alliance.
The commanders hope for the security conditions in Iraq to become steadier, which will allow them to pullout the last 1000 troops from Iraq to Basra air base.
Two combat groups in Iraq are reportedly deployable. However, according to Mr. Ainsworth - any more deployment is not feasible, due to the amount of commitments the British forces have.
Brig Chris Hughes, who has worked in Iraq, warned the MPs -
We are at the most difficult time because any military transition is hugely complex and getting more difficult as we get closer to transition.
The British brigadier, the MoD’s director of joint commitments, thinks that it would be rather unsuitable to discuss ‘victory’ in Iraq. He felt however, that ’success’ was attainable and the mission was about ‘us coming through in good order’.
It seems to be a matter of immense concern for the British officials at present whether the British forces will ‘come through in good order’ or not.
The problems being faced by the British regarding the pullout of troops seems quite obvious at this point perhaps because of the lack of planning when the process of employment of British troops in Iraq began.
Via : The Telegraph UK
Image Credit : The Telegraph UK
