Newsgroup: it.politica.internazionale
Titolo: Britain forced to send more troops to Iraq

Britain forced to send more troops to Iraq 
Beckett admits very slow progress on security
· President claims all UK troops could leave in 2007 
Richard Norton-Taylor, Ewen MacAskill and Steven Morris
Wednesday September 6, 2006
The Guardian 
Britain is to reinforce its military presence in Iraq in a move that
reflects increasing concern about the threat to its troops and the
inability of local forces to take over responsibility for the country's
security.
The decision was announced by the Ministry of Defence as the foreign
secretary, Margaret Beckett, on her first visit to Iraq, warned that it
was making "very slow" progress on security. Separately, a leading
international thinktank warned that the conflict in Iraq was producing
highly trained and motivated jihadists ready to commit terrorist acts in
Europe and elsewhere.
The 360 extra British troops will be deployed in southern Iraq to
reinforce the 19 Light Brigade which takes over from the 20 Armoured
Brigade, at present based in Basra, later this year, the MoD said. They
will include soldiers from the 2nd Battalion, the Royal Regiment of
Fusiliers, based in Cyprus, Royal Engineers, Royal Marines and Military
Police.
The MoD said the engineers would help counter the threat from improvised
explosive devices, which have killed 19 British soldiers patrolling in
"snatch" Land Rovers over the last 16 months. A Royal Marine boat troop
will be deployed to step up security on the Shatt al-Arab waterway, which
borders Iran. The extra military police will train local Iraqi forces.
At a joint Baghdad press conference, Mrs Beckett distanced herself from
comments by the Iraqi president, Jalal Talabani, who said all 7,200
British troops in Iraq could be gone by the end of 2007, by which time
Iraqi security forces would have taken over their responsibilities.
She said the president was only offering a personal opinion and "not
setting a deadline". Withdrawal would depend on the capability of Iraqi
forces to take over from British forces.
She said: "Coalition forces can't go now because that would create a
security vacuum." She added that Iraq was making "very slow" progress on
security, describing it as "two steps forward, two steps sideways".
A Foreign Office official said one of the biggest concerns was the growing
involvement of Iran, which was pouring billions of pounds into Iraq,
extending its influence there. Tehran enjoys a close relationship with
some of the leading parties in the Shia-led Iraqi government coalition.
British officials also say Iranian elements are backing Shia militia which
have infiltrated Iraqi security forces in the south of the country and are
supplying equipment for increasingly sophisticated improvised roadside
bombs.
In London, the International Institute for Strategic Studies, warned of
the threat posed by jihadists experienced in fighting foreign troops in
Iraq.
"The fear is that some jihadists will survive US-led counter-insurgency
efforts and relocate to Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Europe, and possibly the
United States, better trained and motivated to perpetrate and direct
terrorist operations," it warned in its latest annual strategic survey.
It added: "Events in Iraq [have] also prompted jihadists to refine and
propagate urban warfare techniques, and they may choose to apply them
robustly to cities elsewhere." The institute concluded: "In taking stock
of counter-terrorism five years on from September 11, a grim picture
emerges."
One of two British soldiers killed near Basra on Monday when a roadside
bomb hit his Land Rover was named yesterday as Gunner Stephen Wright, 20,
of the Royal Artillery. His father, Stephen Leigh, from Leyland, Lancs,
said: "I don't want to get into why the army are there or whether they
should be ... but it's hard that he's a victim of this conflict".
Meanwhile, a British soldier killed on Monday by a suicide bomber in the
Afghan capital, Kabul, was named as Private Craig O'Donnell, 24, of the
Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders. His parents said he was looking forward
to setting up home with his girlfriend Jessica and to the birth of their
first child at Christmas.
-- 
visitate 
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il film sul 9/11 : 
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http://www.churchill-society-london.org.uk/Berlin.jpg
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 tra un po' pure Amalric dovra' partire,abile ed arruolato <g>

  tra un po' pure Amalric dovra' partire,abile ed arruolato <g>
sono ridotti cosi' male da arruolare dei nazicoglioni tarati ?