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Blair: We face a new war in Iraq
After ordering British forces to keep a low profile for weeks, is Blair readying the nation for an increase in casualties in Southern Iraq? A more proactive approach to the Spud Thugs?British troops are back at war in Iraq at the centre of a new battle against global terrorism, Tony Blair said yesterday. The first conflict to remove Saddam Hussein, and the so far non-existent weapons of mass destruction, had developed into a struggle against foreign insurgents and remnants of the former regime, the Prime Minister added. Don't forget Basra's crop of Tater Tots, Tony. Sixteen months after President George W Bush declared that combat operations were over, and after a week which has claimed 300 lives, Mr Blair conceded for the first time that a full-scale "new Iraqi conflict" was under way. He said the country had become the "crucible" in which the future of the battle against global terrorism would be determined. Mr Blair's admission followed the disclosure by The Telegraph on Saturday that he had been warned a year before the American-led invasion that post-war Iraq would cause major problems, and that no one had a clear idea of what would happen. The previously secret documents had said a stable post-war government would be impossible without keeping large numbers of troops there for "many years". I don't recall anyone in authority claiming the post-war situation would be less challenging than the war itself. Hardly 'news'. Mr Blair, beside Iyad Allawi, the interim prime minister of Iraq, at 10 Downing Street, vowed to see through the struggle and defeat the terrorists. He said Britain would not "desert" the Iraq people. He refused to put a timescale on how long British troops would be in Iraq, but denied suggestions that it could be for 10 or 20 years. Mr Blair denied that coalition and Iraqi forces were losing the war against terrorism, though he accepted the extremists had the capability to kill innocent people. Another blatantly obvious truth portrayed as an admission as failure. Who ever has been able to stamp out murder? If people are determined to murder other people, it tends to be hard to stop them before they've done it. Especially if there are other people helping and hiding them. Posted by: Bulldog 2004-09-20 |
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