UK Defense Secretary Geoff Hoon announced on Thursday that 850 British troops in southern Iraq would advance toward Baghdad to replace US fighting units that are expected to mount an assault on Iraqi insurgents west of the capital, near Fallujah.
"The government has decided that we should accept the US request for assistance," Hoon told parliament.
He said that the deployment would take "a matter of weeks, not months," and that it would be "limited in scope, time and space."
Hoon's announcement ended weeks of speculation about the role of British forces in US-led efforts to suppress an insurgency that is threatening to delay and disrupt Iraq's elections planned for January.
"After careful evaluation, the chiefs of staff have advised me that UK forces are able to undertake the proposed operation, that there is a compelling military operational justification for doing so, and that it entails a militarily acceptable level of risk for UK forces," Hoon told the House of Commons.
Opposition members of parliament have asked why the US, with 130,000 troops in the Iraq theater, needs 850 British troops for the Fallujah mission. Hoon said on Thursday that the number of armored combat troops in Iraq was a small fraction of the total deployment. He added that British troops would be drawn from the Black Watch Regiment.
General Michael Walker, chief of the defense staff, speaking at a news conference after Hoon, said there would be a 30-day limit on the British redeployment.
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