"Aha!" my tucchus! (UK troop levels)

The sudden media attention to Tony Blair's draw-down of Brit troops in (southern) Iraq is really quite pathetic.

The UK has been reducing its fighting force in that country for some time. At its peak they were over 30,000 strong and now are down to 7,100. This is a matter of public record.

Few in the media (or the Democratic party) apparently noticed this until this week's announcement that the Blair government was reducing their troop level from 7,100 to 5,500 this spring and then to 5,000 by the end of the the summer of '07. The British are stationed in the Basra area, a primarily Shiite and relatively trouble-free area of the country (compared to the 'Sunni triangle' and Baghdad). It's not Kurdistan but it's certainly more 'pacified' and less violent than Baghdad and 'the triangle.'

"What would be absolutely disastrous - and we are not doing in any shape or form - is to say that future draw-downs are unconditional. It is all conditions-based, based on the progress and the capability of the Iraqi forces." Blair declared that "the next chapter in Basra's history will be written by the Iraqis."

The latter quote has either been under-reported or omitted entirely from both news and partisan Democratic sniping. Blair would not comment on reports that all British troops would be removed by 2008 in an apparent rebuke to the media speculation on that date for a full UK withdrawal. Blair himself will be leaving office in the summer of 2007 and his successor may make the final decision.

Are we to believe that this long standing plan snuck up on the media and the liberal left? Puh-lease!