British troops set to support US in Iraqi dangerzone
“The US request is for a limited number of UK ground forces to be made available to relieve US forces, to allow them in turn to participate in further operations elsewhere in Iraq to maintain the continuing pressure on terrorists,” Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon told parliament yesterday.
Mr Hoon said British troops would not be required in the flashpoint areas of Baghdad or Fallujah.
Government sources said officials were expected to make a final assessment on the US request in days.
Asked by MPs about the consequences of turning Washington down, he said: “There will be no penalty but we will have failed in our duty as an ally.”
The prospect of British troops becoming more embroiled in what many in Britain see as an increasingly chaotic situation in Iraq has sparked a political row and fears of a sharp rise in British military casualties.
Critics have accused Mr Blair of preparing to put the lives of British troops at greater risk to help President George Bush in the US presidential election on November 2.
Mr Blair’s decision to back Mr Bush over the March 2003 invasion of Iraq has hit his ratings and divided his Labour Party.
However, Mr Hoon rejected these accusations.
“I want to make clear that the request is a military request,” he said.
“Although it is linked to elections, it is not the US elections but with efforts to create the best possible security situation in which to hold the Iraq elections in January.”
But critics, some in the Labour Party, questioned why Washington thought the redeployment of a small number of British troops was so vital at this time.
“I and many others... do not take kindly to the idea that we are being engaged with President Bush and the Pentagon in order to bail them out,” said veteran Labour parliamentarian Dennis Skinner.
Britain has some 8,000 troops in Iraq but until now its forces have operated only in the relatively quiet Basra area of southern Iraq.
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