LONDON – Britain will cut its troop strength in Iraq in half in the coming months, from more than 5,000 to about 2,500 in the spring, Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced Monday.
Speaking in the House of Commons on the opening day of Parliament’s fall session, Brown said the reduction is possible because of improving security in Iraq, particularly what he called a “calmer” situation around Basra, where British troops are based.
Brown disclosed the troop reductions as hundreds of anti- war demonstrators marched outside and opposition lawmakers grilled him over Britain’s role in the unpopular Iraq war.
“The harsh truth is that Britain’s involvement in Iraq has been a catastrophe,” said Liberal Democrat leader Menzies Campbell. He said Britain should completely withdraw from Iraq as soon as possible.
In his first major parliamentary address on Iraq since he took office in June, Brown rejected calls to set a timetable for a complete withdrawal of troops. He said any further cuts would be made based on military commanders’ assessment of conditions in Iraq.
Brown said Britain’s security role in Iraq was changing to an “overwatch” role of training Iraqi soldiers and police officers, protecting supply routes into the country and patrolling the border with Iran. He said British troops also would be available for a “re-intervention” to help Iraqi forces if necessary.
He said that role would gradually change to almost exclusively a training role by next spring. As that shift occurred, he said, Britain would decrease its troops from 5,500 – the level at the beginning of September – to 4,500 by the end of the year, then to 4,000 and eventually to 2,500 in the spring.
He said an additional 500 support troops would be stationed in the region but outside Iraq. Analysts said they would most likely be based in Kuwait.
Brown also said Iraqis who had worked as interpreters and translators for British forces would be eligible for financial and other help to relocate to Britain or other countries where they felt safe. Brown said about 450 who had worked for British forces for at least a year would be eligible immediately.
Opposition lawmakers repeatedly attacked Brown, with several saying that as a top Cabinet official under his predecessor, Tony Blair, he should have done more to prevent the war. Brown deflected criticism about the war’s origins and stressed Britain’s “obligation” to remain in Iraq to achieve security, political reconciliation and economic reconstruction.
The Conservatives criticized Brown for his trip last week to Iraq, where he visited British troops and announced the initial reduction of 1,000 troops by Christmas.
Conservative leader David Cameron denounced the move as political opportunism and said it was designed to steal the limelight during the Conservatives’ annual party conference.
In the Commons on Monday, Cameron said Brown should have made his announcement in Parliament, not Iraq. He said it was “not an acceptable way for a prime minister to behave.”
“I make no apologies for visiting our troops in Iraq,” Brown said to loud jeers from Conservative lawmakers. “If we are to have a responsible politics in this country,” he continued, “then ministers who hold responsibility for the safety and security of our armed forces must visit our armed forces, listen to what they say, draw on their advice and then make their decisions – which is what I am announcing today.”
Brown, facing his toughest political struggle since taking office, has been harshly criticized by opposition politicians and the British press for how he handled his recent decision not to call a general election this fall.
After considering the idea for two weeks, Brown said Sunday he had decided against an early vote, opting instead to let his policies gel a little longer.
