*******************************
Henry
George School
of Social Science
of Los Angeles
Box 655
Tujunga CA
91042
818 352-4141
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From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On
Behalf Of Keith Hudson
Sent: Tuesday, July 05, 2005 11:40
AM
To: [email protected]
Subject: [Futurework] All is not
well between Bush and Blair?
There are some indications which strongly suggest that all is not well
between Bush and Blair right now.
(1) In a pre-G8 Conference interview with Channel 4 last night Bush rather too
brusquely said he would not agree with Blair's ideas for CO2 reduction as a
"quid pro quo" for his help in Iraq.
(2) This morning, a rather startling item in the Financial Times appeared (see below). In my opinion this
could only have been leaked by the UK Government.
(3) This evening on BBC 6 o'clock News (peak viewing time) there was an item
about the big medical centre in this country treating British soldiers
recruited in Iraq, dwelling significantly on the sad cases of amputees there
and a reminder that 87 British soldiers had died. Rather pointedly the BBC
journalist in interviewing one (double) amputee metnioned that he had been
wounded on that occasion when a battalion of British soldiers were
ostenatiously moved up into northern Iraq to a very dangerous area to cover
for American soliders. Nothing like this has ever appeared before on BBC TV
during two and a half years of the Iraq occupation and could only have
appeared with te express permission -- and probably prompting -- by the
Government.
So, as they say in Yorkshire "Summat's
up" I might mention also that in the last couple of months, since he won a
third term, Blair has become very aggressive in all sorts of ways both on
internal policy and abroad. He has spoken out very forcefully against President
Chirac and others in the EC. He has been very forceful in matters such as Aid
to Africa and global warming and has tended to
put Bush on the defensive on these matters.
Keith
<<<<
MoD PLANS IRAQ
TROOP WITHDRAWAL
Jimmy Burns and Peter Spiegel
The Ministry of Defence has drafted plans for a significant withdrawal of
British troops from Iraq
over the next 18 months and a big deployment to Afghanistan, the Financial Times
has learnt.
In what would represent the biggest operational shake-up involving the armed
forces since the Iraq
war, the first stage of a run-down in military operations is likely to take
place this autumn with a handover of security to Iraqis in at least two
southern provinces.
Defence officials emphasised that all plans for Iraqi deployments were
contingent on the ability of domestic security forces to assume peacekeeping
duties from UK
troops. Iraqi forces have so far proven unable to take over such roles in areas
where the insurgency is most intense, and progress has disappointed coalition
officials.
But senior UK officers
believe the four south-east provinces under UK
command, which are largely Shia and have not seen the same violence as more
Sunni-dominated areas north of Baghdad, may be
ready for a handover earlier than those under US command.
Any reduction of UK troops
could be timed to coincide with plans being developed to deploy a total of up
to 3,000 troops to Afghanistan
before the end of next year. This deployment would take the lead in a Nato
force to take over from US troops in the south of Afghanistan.
In that role, the UK
forces would help fight insurgents and provide support for the war on narcotics
in the region.
While the MoD insisted that no decision had been made on Afghan or Iraqi
deployments, John Reid, defence secretary, said yesterday that Iraqi forces
could begin to take charge of security in their country within a year.
In an interview with the BBC Radio 4 Today programme, Mr Reid suggested that
plans were consistent with the recent prediction of Donald Rumsfeld, US defence
secretary, that it could take take up to 12 years to defeat the Iraqi
insurgency.
He told the BBC that while the insurgency in Iraq may go on for some
considerable time, there remained a second question.
Who will lead the security efforts against the insurgency? And I think in
a relatively short period of time we can start the process of that being led by
the Iraqi security forces themselves, he said.
Mr Reid went on: So although Donald Rumsfeld may have said, correctly,
that this may take years before it is finally completed, that did not imply
that all that period will have to be led by the multi-national forces or the
British forces.
I personally think that within a year we could begin that transition to
the Iraqi forces leading the effort themselves.
It is a view echoed by military commanders. Air Chief Marshall Jock Stirrup,
the current Royal Air Force commander who will become chief of the general
staff next year, said more stable Iraqi provinces including those under UK
command were likely to be handed over to local security forces more
quickly than first thought.
By next April, a best case scenario would see current troops levels of 8,500
reduced to about 4,000-5,000, with a further cut in the period leading to the
first quarter of 2007, when the British military presence is expected to fall
to about 1,000 advisers and training personnel.
Additional reporting by Victoria Burnett in Kabul
Financial Times -- 5 July 2005
>>>>
