UK Plans Troop Reduction

The British government is planning to downsize its military presence in Iraq this May by 800 to leave a total of 7,000 troops, a move Defense Secretary John Reid insists is not meant to signal a “handover of responsibility” to Iraqi forces, according to the BBC.

Meanwhile, another British general has come forth to criticize the U.S.‘s postwar strategy in Iraq, calling it “fatally flawed.”

BBC:

The reduction means a total of 3,000 troops will have been withdrawn since October 2003, when there were 10,000 British troops there.

Mr Reid said there were now 235,000 members of the Iraqi security forces equipped and trained, with 5,000 more signing up every month.

And the Iraqi Army has 110 operational combat battalions carrying out counter-insurgency operations.

Read more

AP photo / Nabil al-Jurani

Cheerio:  A British soldier waves from his vehicle in Basra last February, months before UK troops withdrew from the Iraqi city.