BRITISH TROOPS TO PULL OUT OF IRAQ

I ripped this off "Today".

Very interesting read, on how delighted the US are for the British to cut down on their forces whilist the US seeks to send in yet another 21k troops in. So if my feeable weak mind is working correctly, this would make the US the ruling foreign force in Iraq, One wonders what made Blair give up the oil.

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Move hailed by US as sign of success

LONDON - British Prime Minister Tony Blair announced yesterday that British troop numbers in southern Iraq would be reduced by nearly 2,000 troops in the months ahead.

The 7,000-strong British contingent could be reduced to fewer than 5,000 troops later this year, Mr Blair said, adding that British troops would remain in Iraq as long "as we are wanted and have a job to do".

Speaking of the initial troop pullout, he said: "The actual reduction in forces will be from the present 7,100 ... to roughly 5,500."

Britain's troops are based around Iraq's second city of Basra and have already handed over control to Iraqi forces in some parts of the Shia Muslim-dominated south, where unrest has been nowhere near the levels witnessed in Baghdad and the central "Sunni triangle".

British officers say they plan to pull out of three bases in Basra itself and a logistics base in Shuaiba outside the town, and gradually concentrate their forces at their headquarters at Basra airport.

Mr Blair said the tasks of the remaining British forces would be to train and support Iraqi troops; secure the Iraq-Iran border and supply routes; boost the ability of Iraqi forces to conduct operations against extremists; and support the Iraqi army when called upon.

Mr Blair said: "We hope that Maysan province can be transferred to full Iraqi control in the next few months and Basra in the second half of the year."

"The UK military presence will continue into 2008 for as long as we are wanted and have a job to do. Increasingly, our role will be supporting training and our numbers will be able to reduce accordingly," he said.

Britain is Washington's main ally in Iraq, where the United States has about 138,000 troops and plans to send another 21,500 to counter an insurgent onslaught.

A US spokesman earlier said that US President George W Bush viewed Britain's troop cutbacks as "a sign of success" in Iraq.

"While the United Kingdom is maintaining a robust force in southern Iraq, we're pleased that conditions in Basra have improved sufficiently that they are able to (hand over) more control to the Iraqis," added US National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe.

Mr Blair has been under relentless pressure to spell out a timetable for troop withdrawal. The Iraq war has become increasingly unpopular and dented his poll ratings.

He has vowed to step down by September and is keen to use his remaining months in office to establish a legacy outside the public unease over the war.

The US-led coalition in Iraq was further diminished yesterday when another coalition partner, Denmark, said it would withdraw its current 500-strong contingent in southern Iraq by August, and signalled that it planned to increase its forces in Afghanistan.

Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen said there had been "no request" to redeploy the Danish troops to Baghdad or other parts of central Iraq.