Tony Is The Man!

Annie · Mar 16, 2005

I truly hope there is never another war in Europe, but history tells another tale. If it should come to pass, there are reasons we should come to England's aid. If it should come to pass, I hope we can be against France, opposed to say an offshoot of the ME.

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050316/ap_on_re_eu/crumbling_coalition

Blair: Britain Will Stay Course in Iraq

Wed Mar 16, 3:51 PM ET Europe - AP

By ED JOHNSON, Associated Press Writer

LONDON - Italy's announcement that it hopes to start pulling troops from Iraq (news - web sites) in September leaves the British government as Washington's last major unwavering coalition ally.

Prime Minister Tony Blair (news - web sites) is about to face voters who widely opposed the war, but on Wednesday he rejected another call from the country's second-largest opposition party that he follow Italy's lead and set a timetable for withdrawing British troops.

"We have got to make sure that the Iraqis are capable of looking after their own security," Blair told the House of Commons. "By September, we hope the Iraqi security forces will be in a much better position. But that does not mean we should set an arbitrary timetable for withdrawal."

Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi said Tuesday he hopes to begin a gradual withdrawal of Italy's 3,000 soldiers in Iraq next fall, but he stressed the pullout depended on security conditions there and would be discussed with the new Iraqi government and coalition allies.

More than a dozen countries have pulled out or scaled back their troop presence in Iraq over the past year. But Blair's government, which has 8,000 soldiers in southern Iraq, has remained steadfast.

The stand doesn't appear to be hurting Blair going into parliamentary elections expected to be held in May, which are widely expected to be won by the governing Labour Party.

While many Britons opposed the war, Iraq has so far not been a major campaign issue. The main opposition Conservatives supported the war, and many Labour lawmakers who opposed it now argue a pullout would leave Iraq's fledgling democratic government at the mercy of insurgents.

William Jones, a politics expert at Manchester University, said that unless the number of British military casualties currently 86 suddenly rocketed, Blair was unlikely to come under pressure over Iraq. "Iraq is just background noise now," Jones said.

Blair and Bush have both said their priority is to train Iraqi forces to take over responsibility for security and they will not withdraw until the Iraqis are up to the job.

There are fears in London and Washington that the process is lagging, hampered by desertions and poor leadership among Iraqi recruits. But both governments are reluctant to publish a timetable for pulling out their troops, fearing it would give heart to insurgents.

"We have always said we should leave as soon as possible once the Iraqi forces are in the position where they are capable of dealing with their own security," Blair told the Commons.

Iraq's successful staging of elections Jan. 30 appears to have convinced many Britons their nation is duty-bound to ensure that democracy takes root.

"My position is that the British troops should stay as long as the interim Iraqi government or its successor wishes it to be there," said Labour lawmaker Harry Barnes, who voted against the war.

But some left-wing Labour members disagreed.

"British and American troops are increasingly part of the problem, not the solution," said legislator Jeremy Corbyn. "An urgent timetable for the withdrawal of troops should be drawn up and implemented."
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Tony Is The Man!

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