Monday, August 20, 2007

More "Progress" In Iraq

While George Bush touts the cooling down out in the Anbar province (thanks to deals with Sunni militias) other parts of the country are falling apart fast. Even though Baghdad has thousands more U.S. troops than before, chaos still rules the city. Things are even worse farther down in Basra where the British are planning on leaving.

From The Times Online (U.K.):

“I regret to say that the Basra experience is set to become a major blunder in terms of military history,” said a senior officer. “The insurgents are calling the shots . . . and in a worst-case scenario will chase us out of southern Iraq.”

Gordon Brown, the prime minister, has agreed with Bush that no decision will be made to withdraw until after General David Petraeus, the US commander, delivers a report to Congress next month on the progress of the Americans’ “troop surge”.

But the British are expected to pull back to a single base at Basra airport soon in preparation for withdrawal.


So for Bush's sake, PM Gordon Brown will wait for the Petraus White House report next month and then leave Iraq as soon as possible. It is a blunder for the Brits, but it is only because Tony Blair played the role of Bush's lapdog oh so well. At least Brown will be seen as the one who gets the U.K. out the mess.