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Iraq 'Drawdown' ~ The Secret Is Out !
Today, Sunday 10th July 2005, Britain's Daily Mail newspaper stunned us with a super-scoop.
Here's the headline for this amazing, 'exclusive' news report written by Simon Walters, and published in The Sunday Mail. See if it takes your breath away - as quickly as it did mine.
Secret Plan To Quit Iraq
EXCLUSIVE
By Simon Walters, Mail on Sunday
Lately, lots of 'leaks' have been appearing in the British press on a pretty regular basis. But, to This Old Brit, this one seems to be the daddy of 'em all. And it's already been officially confirmed as the genuine article.
The Ministry of Defence last night confirmed the leaked document was genuine.
Here's more of this sensational story.
So much hitherto unknown information is contained herein, that it's hard to judge which revelation should have us reeling most.Britain And America are secretly preparing to withdraw most of their troops from Iraq - despite warnings of the grave consequences for the region, The Mail on Sunday has learned.
And there's this.
A secret paper written by Defence Secretary John Reid for Tony Blair reveals that many of the 8,500 British troops in Iraq are set to be brought home within three months, with most of the rest returning six months later.
The leaked document, marked Secret: UK Eyes Only, appears to fly in the face of Mr Blair and President Bush's pledges that Allied forces will not quit until Iraq's own forces are strong enough to take control of security.
Could it possibly be this?
Embarrassingly, the document says the Americans are split over the plan - and it suggests one of the reasons for getting British troops out is to save money.
Or, perhaps it's this.
It says Mr Bush's allies in the Pentagon and Centcom, or Central Command, are at odds with Army chiefs in Iraq, who fear it is too soon to withdraw in such large numbers.Rearing to read the rest yet?
The document states: "There is a strong US military desire for significant force reductions.
Here's a final clip & paste before making your way to The Mail's own site.
'Military drawdown'
Mr Reid's memo, prepared for Mr Blair in the past few weeks, shows that in reality, plans to get them out - "military drawdown," as he puts it - are well advanced.
Hit the link to read the entire, explosive ' exclusive' .
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=355291&in_page_id=1770&in_a_source
IMPORTANT. If you have problems [like others have] using the above link - try the Mail's main page link below, then scroll down a bit for the "Secret Plan to Quit Iraq" story.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/dailymail/home.html?in_page_id=1766
posted by Richard at Sunday, July 10, 2005
20 Comments:
Leaves one staggering.
Let's see. 2006 Elections in US are Nov. 7. Given the infinitessimal attention span of most Americans, a withdrawal sometime before then ought to ice it for the "conservatives", especially since their southern "base" relies heavily on the military for employment and might wise up - a stretch, but still theoretically possible.
The corrupters of voting machines might just flip the wrong switch otherwise.
Thank God for the British press and government insiders. I sincerely doubt, unless the document were leaked to the Toledo Blade, that it would be printed in the mainstream US press today.
but ... but ... but, isn't this just an outline/analysis of a possible plan, perhaps one of several optional plans?
I do not read it as a "Memo of Intent."
Of course it is comforting to know they are at least looking at the possibility of quick withdrawal and are taking a serious look at how to do it and what the likely ramifications are. But I don't see anything to celebrate yet.
Am I missing something?
Amongst all the spinning and smoke & mirror stuff, Rosemary, I see this as brand NEW news - and such important news that it was marked secret - FOR UK EYES ONLY.
Many of our 8,500 troops are set to be pulled out within 3 months and most of the rest 6months later
Witness - ** A secret paper written by Defence Secretary John Reid for Tony Blair reveals that many of the 8,500 British troops in Iraq are set to be brought home within three months, with most of the rest returning six months later. **
Now, that is fast with a capital F. Also, we know this will almost certainly lead to others pulling out too.
It's giving the finger to bush - that's the bottom line.
Here's what I believe the real 'coded' message is, from the UK government to the US government.
"We've had enough of you, mate. Get on with it yourself, smart arse. You told us there was NO quid pro-quo - AFTER all we did for you? You made out we did you no favours. You told the world we only did what was in our interests. Well, up yours George! You little shit."
Of course, there's NO WAY we could come out and say it like that - so, we use the oldest trick in the [diplomatic] book -- we get something down in black & white - of 'official secret' staus -- then make bloody certain it's leaked.
We daren't come right out and tell the world we're done with GWB - but his administration will certainly "get" the message alright.
Of course, only time will tell. But personally, I would be prepared to bet the farm on it. Heh - if I had one, of course.
Hi, Rosemary,
My baseline for trying to understand the particulars of Iraq is Juan Cole's blog, and in the past he's stated that we might be stuck there 15 years because Iraqi security won't be able to hold the country together. Today he makes the point that our being there doesn't aid "integrity" , anyway, and he believes that the plan may be seen as a willingness to turn north over to Kurdish paramilitary and south over to combination Shiite/new Iraqi government forces. He reads the plan as "desperate".
Well, the army you have and all - - - how is it that Donald Rumsfeld still has a job? This thing is a disaster - and they'll probably get away with it with the American public. Maybe the Brits are a little more informed.
Here's the very latest on this 'leak'. As I said, it IS important and new. The oppostiion think so too.
*** Ministers were tonight facing questions over plans to pull thousands of British and US troops out of Iraq.
Defence Secretary John Reid has drawn up a secret paper showing Britain's 8,500-strong contingent could be cut to 3,000.
The document also sets out US plans to cut its troop numbers from 176,000 to 66,000.
Mr Reid has insisted the document is just one of a number covering various scenarios. And he highlighted the Government's pledge to stay in Iraq "as long as is needed".***
But the Conservatives raised concerns over the revelation. Shadow defence secretary Michael Ancram said the Government had claimed setting a date for withdrawal could endanger troops on the ground in Iraq.
He demanded urgent answers from Mr Reid.
Link for more of this latest:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=355352&in_page_id=1770
Oh yes, I was definitely misreading things. Thanks, you two.
We've waited so long for this signal that I just couldn't believe it was happening, I guess. I've gotten too used to expecting the worst.
Bush's performance at the G8 shitting on Blair's top agenda item must have been the last straw.
Indeed, cosmic rays, How ON EARTH is it that Donald Rumsfeld still has a job? We, in the U.S. feel like Alice through the looking glass or down the rabbit hole. Nothing that is happening in Washington makes any sense.
Hi Noel,
That's an important question. What happens to the collaborators? They are our responsibility, no question about that. But, don't expect this Admin to even think about their welfare. Their historical perspective does not go back as far as Cambodia and Pol Pot. For them, that's ancient history.
About the oil? Dunno. I don't want to even think about a Plan B.
Looks like Sharon is giving the US a coded message, as well.
He announced that Israel is building a security wall inside Jerusalem which will cut 55,000 Palestinian Jerusalemites out of their city.
Like shaking a bee hive.
Someone want to remind me what Sharon does for the US and GB again?
"I sincerely doubt, unless the document were leaked to the Toledo Blade, that it would be printed in the mainstream US press today."
Well Oh Cosmic One, It would be front page on the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette! I get most of my conservative news from there! It's nice that least ONE of the old GOP rags still remembers what it means to be a REAL Republican!
iRicardo mi vato!I do believe your understanding of things is as you Englinsh would say "spot on"! Such an action by Blair will leave the other BB swinging with his cajones in the breeze like the chingaso he is!
Noel I'm not sure I can agree with you there. This whole thing is starting to stink to me like 1976 and the VietNam bug-out where we basically walked out of the last of the Paris Peace talks, threw up our hands and left our allies in the South to fend for themselves... heck, we almost got caught checking out! Nasty business that. The really sick part of it was is that those of us working in Logistics and those in Covert Operations were already working on the bug out plan as early as 1973-74. You would think that with that much lead time we'd have been ready for it!
Noel, the Bsh family don't give a flying one for anyone other than their own. Remember poppy encouraging the Marsh Arabs to rise up and join in the fight against Saddam towards the end of Gulf War 1 ? Well, they did. Then poppy just up and called it day - and left thousands of them to be wiped out. Most of the mass graves found later on, were filled with these poor people.
Junior probably cares even less than his dad did.
Cosmic, Sharon is raving, nationalist. The only people he has ANY time for are Israelis.
He's another unaprehended, unindicted, untried and unconvicted war criminal. He sees Israelis as the master race of the middle east.
And, he didn't get his old nickname "the butcher" without very good reason.
Remember the massacres in Lebanon? Sharon should have 'swung' for those mass murders.
Hello Juliedee, long time no see. But, better late than ever, eh? :^)
Oh and Rosemary!!!!! I didn't mean to leave you out hun! How ya doin'? I know it's been a while since I crawled out from under my rock, I'll try to be around more often!
I don't know if you can really say that this group or that group are "collaborators"... when you think about this there are more sides in this conflict than there are parts in a kaleidoscope image! Some are with this set of our allies but against that set... so it's really impossible to say. In any case, once we bug out it will come down to who is strongest and can take it and who can keep it. In any case that will be pretty much out of our hands. Believe me, we are not NEARLY as powerful and able to covertly off foreign bad guys as the press, movies and the conspiracy nuts would have you believe. After all, look at how old and fat Fidel Castro has become!
Allo Richardo! ¿Como esta amigo mio? Sorry I've been hibernating... depression got it's hooks into me pretty deeply for a while there... had a pretty rough go of it but I'm back now!
OH MY GODS! I TOTALLY misread your post RoseMary! Please... disregard what said. I'll be spending the better part of the next hour working on getting this foot out of my mouth. :^}
Hola, juliedee. Moy bien, gracias - y usted?
Well, juledee, you had me a bit confused there! That is, until I realized you had not seen my later posts.
Richard and Cosmic Rays had to do some patient explaining in words-of-one-syllable before I completely grasped the significance of this memo.
I am still not seeing much of any reaction in our country.
I think we all know those oil companies and others with lucrative construction contracts are not going to let the oil and money spigots get turned off.
It's like waiting for the other shoe to drop.
Meantime other alliances are tightening all around the area and some American military is supposedly being redeployed to Uzbekistan(sp?) and Afghanistan.
So does this mean Britain won't be joining us in Iran?
All sarcasm aside, nothing good will ever come of this. If the U.S. does draw down its troops, in time for the '06 elections, a smaller, still ill-equipped force still faces a firmly entrenched insurgency.
And if the U.S. goes it alone without withdrawing troops, what other options do we have besides implementing a draft? By most accounts, we're scraping the bottom of the barrel as it is.
And what then? At the very least we're looking at civil war along ethnic lines and the strong possiblity of a Muslim theocracy with strong ties to Iran.
To hell with the Iraqi collaborators and U.S. companies! This whole fiasco will never ever be worth destroying a country and bankrupting another.
All too true and very well put, Patrick.
iMuey bien vato mio! Well may be not so bien... the RSD (reflex sympathetic dystrophy - the root cause of my chronic pain) has been tearing me up lately and I've got another bone infection that they can't find causing me hell in the pain department and wrecking pure havoc with my immune system. Other than that I'm just peachy!
I should know better that to write a post right after I've taken my meds Rosemary! The morphine+ cocktail I take puts me out in the orbit of Neptune for an hour or more after I take them... not a good place to be coming from if you are trying to be coherent! So you can see, it wasn't so much what I had or hadn't read...it was more of a case of my condition while reading! LOL!
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