UK military opposed to sending more troops to Iraq 'quagmire'
IRNA
London, June 7, IRNA -- British defense chiefs were reported Saturday
to be resisting calls to send more troops to join American forces in
Baghdad for fear of being 'sucked into a quagmire'.
The Ministry of Defense in London has been resisting US requests
for the British Army's 16th Air Assault Brigade to be sent to the
Iraqi capital for the past two weeks, claiming 'overstretch' problems
for the country's limited forces.
But according to the Independent newspaper, senior military
officials are believed to have told Prime Minister Tony Blair that
such a deployment would inevitably mean British soldiers getting
caught up in the rising tide of anti-American violence.
They were said to be happy with the way things have gone in areas
under British control in southern Iraq in contrast to American forces
coming under repeated Iraqi attacks in Baghdad and Fallujah.
"One of the main reasons the US Central Command sounded out London
on the possibility of sending contingents in the American-controlled
zones was because of the relative success of British troops in
policing roles," the Independent said.
But it believed that Blair may feel obliged to send the troops to
Baghdad and suggested that he had been putting pressure on the
military to reconsider its rejection.
It is estimated that around 15,000 British troops and 145,000
American troops have remained in Iraq, two months after the collapse
of Saddam Hussein's regime.
HC/AH/AR
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