Drone_pilot
23-04-04, 19:41
The Ministry of Defence is resisting US pressure on Britain to extend its sphere of military influence in Iraq to some of the most violent parts of the country, including the capital Baghdad.
Britain is being leant on by the US military, although no formal request has been issued, to provide a new headquarters unit in south-central Iraq to replace Spanish troops being pulled out by the new Madrid government. That would take British troops into the troubled town of Najaf, where the radical Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr is holed up.
Some British military figures have also been told that UK forces may be asked to undertake a hearts and minds operation inside Baghdad, currently an exclusively US sphere of influence.
The MoD said all sorts of options were being considered, but played down suggestions that a large increase in the 8,000-strong present British contingent was likely.
British defence sources said they were unenthusiastic about filling the vacuum created by the quicker than expected departure of Spanish troops, triggered by the unexpected election victory of the anti-war Socialist government.
Nicholas Soames, the shadow defence secretary, yesterday wrote to Tony Blair demanding urgent clarification of a report in the Washington Post that Britain is being asked to extend its remit in the wake of the Spanish pullout.
The prime minister said yesterday at his weekly press conference there were no plans to increase the size of the British forces in Iraq.
But plans for a wider British remit were under discussion before this week's suicide bombings in Basra, previously held up as a model of soft-touch policing by the British.
Friction between the British and US military over heavy-handed US military tactics were brought into the open this week when General Sir Michael Jackson, the chief of the general staff, admitted at a Commons defence committee hearing there were disagreements between the US and British over peacekeeping styles.
Mr Blair conceded yesterday that it is easier for Britain to adopt its "soft hat" low-key peacekeeping operation since it is not operating in the areas of fiercest resistance to the US intervention.
The US, he said, "had a different order of responsibility", and had sustained heavy losses with outstanding courage in the most difficult sector of Iraq: "It is a very difficult situation for the Americans - we must not put a rift between US troops."
Any decision to send British troops to either Baghdad or Najaf is fraught with political risk because of the inevitability of higher British casualties. So far 59 British soldiers have died in Iraq since last year's invasion, far fewer than the 100 US soldiers killed this month alone in vicious fighting in the Sunni town of Falluja, west of Baghdad, and elsewhere.
The contrast between British-occupied southern Iraq and the rest of the country could not be greater. The US military is fighting a raging insurgency on two fronts - against Sunni militants in and around Falluja, and against armed supporters of Mr Sadr in south-central Iraq.
Mr Sadr has been holed up inside the holy city of Najaf, surrounded by US forces.
Source modoracle
Britain is being leant on by the US military, although no formal request has been issued, to provide a new headquarters unit in south-central Iraq to replace Spanish troops being pulled out by the new Madrid government. That would take British troops into the troubled town of Najaf, where the radical Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr is holed up.
Some British military figures have also been told that UK forces may be asked to undertake a hearts and minds operation inside Baghdad, currently an exclusively US sphere of influence.
The MoD said all sorts of options were being considered, but played down suggestions that a large increase in the 8,000-strong present British contingent was likely.
British defence sources said they were unenthusiastic about filling the vacuum created by the quicker than expected departure of Spanish troops, triggered by the unexpected election victory of the anti-war Socialist government.
Nicholas Soames, the shadow defence secretary, yesterday wrote to Tony Blair demanding urgent clarification of a report in the Washington Post that Britain is being asked to extend its remit in the wake of the Spanish pullout.
The prime minister said yesterday at his weekly press conference there were no plans to increase the size of the British forces in Iraq.
But plans for a wider British remit were under discussion before this week's suicide bombings in Basra, previously held up as a model of soft-touch policing by the British.
Friction between the British and US military over heavy-handed US military tactics were brought into the open this week when General Sir Michael Jackson, the chief of the general staff, admitted at a Commons defence committee hearing there were disagreements between the US and British over peacekeeping styles.
Mr Blair conceded yesterday that it is easier for Britain to adopt its "soft hat" low-key peacekeeping operation since it is not operating in the areas of fiercest resistance to the US intervention.
The US, he said, "had a different order of responsibility", and had sustained heavy losses with outstanding courage in the most difficult sector of Iraq: "It is a very difficult situation for the Americans - we must not put a rift between US troops."
Any decision to send British troops to either Baghdad or Najaf is fraught with political risk because of the inevitability of higher British casualties. So far 59 British soldiers have died in Iraq since last year's invasion, far fewer than the 100 US soldiers killed this month alone in vicious fighting in the Sunni town of Falluja, west of Baghdad, and elsewhere.
The contrast between British-occupied southern Iraq and the rest of the country could not be greater. The US military is fighting a raging insurgency on two fronts - against Sunni militants in and around Falluja, and against armed supporters of Mr Sadr in south-central Iraq.
Mr Sadr has been holed up inside the holy city of Najaf, surrounded by US forces.
Source modoracle