British Troops to leave

Via the Times:

Britain and Iraq announced an accelerated timetable for the withdrawal of foreign troops from much of Iraq today during a surprise visit by Tony Blair to show his support for the country's new government.

Britain could return two southern provinces to Iraqi security control within in a few months. Nouri al-Maliki, Iraq's new Prime Minister, said that he expected as many as 16 of the 18 provinces to be "Iraqi-ised" - under the control of Iraqi forces - by the end of this year.

The timetable will increase pressure on the United States to set its own deadlines for withdrawal, which Bush Administration officials have steadily refused to do for fear of handing a propaganda victory to al-Qaeda linked insurgents.

"Iraqi-ised" sounds a lot like 'Vietnamization' to me. Rawstory reports that American planners are expecting a drawdown from the current 133,000 troops to around 100,000 by the end of the year. (October Surprise, anybody?)

[A] senior official accompanying him [Blair] told reporters that the Multi-National Force in Iraq would wrap up its work in the next four years - the clearest deadline yet set by a Western official - Mr Blair refused to be drawn on the precise details of withdrawal.

Under orders from George, no doubt.

I'm surprised it took this long for the British to begin their withdrawal. First, Britons are not under the false impression that Saddam Hussein had anything to do with 9/11. They're not even in a 'War on Terror.' For British troops, they're not fighting a way, they're simply 'on operations.' As the Coalition of the Willing dwindles, Bush will find himself more and more exposed. Actually, his lack of planning will be more and more exposed. Withdrawal will come, sugar coated as the Iraqis taking control, sooner rather than later. The timing will be politically determined.

Tony Blair War in Iraq George W. Bush withdrawal