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Tuesday, September 09, 2003
Britain boosts Iraq force by 1,200 amid persistent attacks (9:58 am)
By Ben Perry
LONDON -- Britain will send at least another 1,200 troops to Iraq in the coming weeks, Defense Sec. Geoff Hoon said Monday, boosting its military presence in the country to over 11,000.
Hoon last week ordered a review of the troop levels required to support British operations in Iraq amid persistent attacks against US and British occupation forces.
In a written statement to parliament Monday, Hoon said there was an "immediate requirement" for help from two battalions, plus additional specialist personnel and equipment, which would be deployed to Britain's area of operations in the south of the country, around Basra.
"We are committed to at least another 1,200 British troops," Hoon later told BBC's Newsnight program.
The announcement of Britain's troop injection came shortly after US President George W. Bush used a televised White House address late Sunday to urge the United Nations to overcome differences on Iraq.
Bush called for more troops and money to help stabilize the country as well as a multinational force to be led by the United States.
Russia, France and Germany, which has a temporary seat on the Security Council, have signaled they would oppose US attempts to create a multilateral force in Iraq that ruled out an important role for the United Nations.
Hoon said in his written statement to parliament that more British forces could be on their way to Iraq once "the full scale of the requirement" is worked out.
"We anticipate additional tasks in the near future which will require military resources, in particular the provision of military support to critical infrastructure work," he said.
"This work will deliver a more stable power supply, improve fuel availability and significantly improve the delivery of water services to all sectors of the population" in Britain's main area of operations.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair's official spokesman denied the deployment was "a knee-jerk response to recent attacks."
Hoon told the BBC that, although more troops were not needed in the British controlled region of southern Iraq for security purposes, it "would be helpful" for other countries to send further forces troops to the war-torn country.
"We already have some 25 countries represented in Iraq. We want to see more," Hoon said.
Eleven British soldiers have been killed in attacks in Iraq since Bush declared on May 1 that major combat operations in the war to overthrow Saddam Hussein were over.
Hoon said earlier Monday that the recent killing of its soldiers would not force Britain to scale down activities.
"The commitment of the UK and its armed forces to Iraq remains undeterred by recent events," Hoon said.
"We are determined to help the Iraqi people to forge a new, peaceful and secure future for themselves and we will meet this commitment with appropriate forces in Iraq for as long as required, and no longer."
Bernard Jenkin, defense spokesman for Britain's opposition Conservative Party, said sending more troops was "a necessary step" but accused the government of underestimating how much it needed to do in Iraq.
"The government has bitten off more than they anticipated in Iraq," he told BBC radio.
"There has been a failure in post-conflict planning and that continued failure is spreading the disillusion with which the British armed forces are having to cope with," Jenkins said. AFP
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