Revealed: Lies about the retreat from Basra
red letter | 22.02.2007 23:27 | Anti-militarism
Revealed: Lies about the retreat from Basra
22/02/2007
The government’s claim that the reduction of troop numbers in Basra is because of the improving security situation have been revealed as lies by figures from the Ministry of Defence.
The two British army bases in central Basra are actually the second and third most attacked bases in Iraq. Only one US army base has been more attacked than the Basra compounds.
The figures obtained by the BBC’s Newsnight show that the government is taking the troops out of Basra because it knows it cannot win the war and because the pressure of anti-war opinion is causing New Labour too much political damage.
There is however a dangerous side to the troop withdrawal. Tony Blair knows that any US attack on Iran will be met with reprisals against British troops in southern Iraq. “We must make sure that Blair doesn’t withdraw from one war in order to start another,” said John Rees, National Secretary of Respect. “Iran is now the number one enemy for the US and we have to make sure that Bush doesn’t drag us into an even more catastrophic conflict.”
22/02/2007
The government’s claim that the reduction of troop numbers in Basra is because of the improving security situation have been revealed as lies by figures from the Ministry of Defence.
The two British army bases in central Basra are actually the second and third most attacked bases in Iraq. Only one US army base has been more attacked than the Basra compounds.
The figures obtained by the BBC’s Newsnight show that the government is taking the troops out of Basra because it knows it cannot win the war and because the pressure of anti-war opinion is causing New Labour too much political damage.
There is however a dangerous side to the troop withdrawal. Tony Blair knows that any US attack on Iran will be met with reprisals against British troops in southern Iraq. “We must make sure that Blair doesn’t withdraw from one war in order to start another,” said John Rees, National Secretary of Respect. “Iran is now the number one enemy for the US and we have to make sure that Bush doesn’t drag us into an even more catastrophic conflict.”
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