The British government is still haggling with the US over the terms by which at least 3,000 British troops will soon be deployed in Iraqi troublespots without being tainted by what a leaked British memo calls "heavy-handed" American military tactics.
Senior officials stress there is no doubt further British troops will be sent to Iraq before sovereignty is handed over to an interim Iraqi government in Baghdad on June 30. It is a deadline that US President George W. Bush was scheduled to confirm in a speech yesterday.
But British military chiefs have urged Prime Minister Tony Blair to send extra forces only on British terms, not those of the US, whose tactics they privately damn as brutal and counterproductive.
PHOTO: AP
Privately ministers agree, though an internal Foreign Office paper leaked on Sunday suggested Britain is making progress towards "a more sensible and sensitive US approach to military operations," at least at senior level.
In the current climate, after the clumsy US mishandling of the standoff at Fallujah and the mistreatment of detainees at Abu Ghraib jail -- which the Foreign Office memo admits "sapped the moral authority of the coalition" -- there is no question of British troops serving under direct US command.
Filling gaps
PHOTO: AP
The British-controlled south-east zone is set to stretch into south-central Iraq to fill the gaps left by the withdrawal of Spanish and other forces. Plans include key hotspots such as the holy city of Najaf, the scene of fierce fighting between US troops and the Shia militia led by the cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.
The favoured plan is to send a force of up to 1,500 Royal Marines, backed by a brigade headquarters and armored infantry provided by the Black Watch Regiment. The battle group would total 3,000 troops under Brigadier John Rose.
"How to sell it is a political decision," said a senior military source. "Blair has to work out how to play it at home and with the allies."
But the exact terms have not been agreed with the US. That, say ministers, is the cause of the delay, not domestic politics or the June 10 local and European elections. No decision is now likely this week.
"We will do it our way," a senior military source said.
The UK chiefs of staff have made it plain extra British troops should be deployed only if the government agrees with the US on a plan leading to the withdrawal of foreign troops.
The rivalry between Asia’s two biggest countries has extended into outer space. After India’s landing of its Chandrayaan-3 rover on the moon last month — becoming the first country to put a spacecraft near the lunar south pole and breaking China’s record for the southernmost lunar landing — a top Chinese scientist has said claims about the accomplishment are overstated. Ouyang Ziyuan (歐陽自遠), lauded as the father of China’s lunar exploration program, told the Chinese-language Science Times newspaper that the Chandrayaan-3 landing site, at 69 degrees south latitude, was nowhere close to the pole, defined as between 88.5 and 90 degrees. On Earth,
A cat wearing a black and yellow security vest strolls nonchalantly past security guards lined outside a Philippine office building waiting to receive instructions for their shift. Conan, a six-month-old stray, joined the security team of the Worldwide Corporate Center in the capital, Manila, several months ago. He is one of the lucky moggies unofficially adopted by security guards across the city, where thousands of cats live on the street. While the cats lack the security skills of dogs — and have a tendency to sleep on the job — their cuteness and company have endeared them to bored security guards working 12-hour
He is better known for rallying global support for Ukraine, but US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday picked up another favorite tool of diplomacy — his guitar. The lifelong music fan turned top US diplomat showed off his guitar chops, as he launched a new initiative of music diplomacy through which the US is to send top artists to countries including China and Saudi Arabia. After performances in the US Department of State’s formal reception room by the likes of jazz icon Herbie Hancock, Dave Grohl of Nirvana and Foo Fighters fame, and rising young pop singer Gayle, Blinken took
TEMPORARY HITCH? Biden said the US ‘cannot ... allow American support for Ukraine to be interrupted,’ and he expects House Speaker McCarthy to come up with a solution The threat of a federal government shutdown suddenly lifted late on Saturday as US President Joe Biden signed a temporary funding bill to keep agencies open with little time to spare after the US Congress rushed to approve the bipartisan deal. The package dropped aid to Ukraine, a White House priority opposed by a growing number of Republican lawmakers, but increased federal disaster assistance by US$16 billion, meeting Biden’s full request. The bill would fund the US government until Nov. 17. After chaotic days of turmoil in the US House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy abruptly abandoned demands for steep spending cuts
RSS