October 21, 2004

Britain Agrees to U.S. Troops Request

Prime Minister Tony Blair's government agreed Thursday to meet a U.S. request and redeploy a battalion of 850 British troops into volatile central Iraq, despite strong opposition from lawmakers.
[Well, apparently the opposition from the Liberal Left wasn't "strong" enough, because Tony won!
Hurray!--Jen]
[...]
An armored battlegroup of 850 soldiers from the First Battalion Black Watch - complete with medics, signalers and engineers - will be redeployed for a "limited and specific period of time, lasting weeks rather than months" to relieve U.S. troops, [Defense Sec. Geoff] Hoon said.
[The plan, I think, is to free up some of our soldiers in the same area so that they can be moved to Fallujah, where they may make the "big push" to decisively take the town and soon.--J.T.]

The troops will deploy in "Multinational Force West" - an area to the west of Baghdad where Sunni insurgents have been carrying out daily attacks on U.S. troops and Iraqis - Hoon said.

[...]..."This deployment is a vital part of the process of creating the right conditions for the Iraqi elections to take place in January."
[...]
But some lawmakers are deeply suspicious it is a political gesture to provide cover for President Bush in the closing days of the U.S. presidential race. Bush has faced repeated accusations from Democratic nominee John Kerry that America is going it alone in Iraq. Some suggest the redeployment would [allow] him [Bush] to reassure voters that U.S. troops were not alone in Iraq's most volatile areas.

Can you believe it...that our politics have leaked this pervasively even into the UK?
This election is like no other, isn't it?
Thank God that the British Left is just as whiny and obnoxious and, in the end, ineffectual and powerless as our Democrats!
Britain, once again, is proving to be a terrific ally and we're grateful for the "special relationship" and for their friendship and cooperation!