Retired U.S. general criticizes British
A retired U.S. general close to the White House says British disengagement in Basra, Iraq, is turning it into a city of gangland warfare.
Retired Army Gen. Jack Keane is now a military consultant and the co-author of a paper that is credited with laying out the architecture of the U.S. troop surge in Iraq.
I think what has happened is that (the insurgents) know British numbers are going down (in Basra) and see the character of operations is changing,
Keane told The Daily Telegraph in London.
The insurgents are trying a power play but they know no one is going to interfere with them.
The newspaper said the comments are the first public criticism of British policy by a U.S. military insider since Prime Minister Gordon Brown took office.
The British Ministry of Defense acknowledged there are problems in Basra, but said the ability of Iraqi security forces to cope with them was improving, the Telegraph said.
The number of British troops in Iraq has decreased from 7,200 at the beginning of this year to 5,500, and is expected to drop to 5,000 by the beginning of next month.
Copyright 2007 by United Press InternationalUPI-1-20070823-12382800-bc-us-iraqassess.xml
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