British Troops Pull Out Of Basra

Iraq strategy called 'bankrupt,’ Rumsfeld roasted

(NEWSER) - Two British officers instrumental to the country’s role in Iraq have lambasted the US strategy there, with one calling the policies “fatally flawed.” The chief of post-war planning and the head of the army during the 2003 invasion took their criticisms to the press this weekend as tension mounts over an anticipated UK withdrawal from Iraq, Agence France-Presse reports. More»

Record compensation for teen shot by dropped rifle

(NEWSER) - Britain's Ministry of Defense has agreed to pay $4 million in compensation to an Iraqi boy accidentally shot by a British soldier, the Guardian reports. The boy, now 17, is paralyzed from severe spinal injuries inflicted when the soldier dropped his rifle at a Basra base in 2003. He is receiving round-the-clock care in Britain and will never be able to return to Iraq. More»

Withdrawal schedule expected this fall

(NEWSER) - The White House is increasingly concerned about the timing of the British troop pullout from Iraq, expected to be announced by PM Gordon Brown in October, the Guardian reports. About 5,000 British troops remain in the Basra area, where they' have already withdrawn to an area around the city's airport. "It's the wild west. Basra is out of control," said a Brookings Institute foreign affairs expert. More»

(NEWSER) - British troops called Iraqi detainees "apes," beat them so that their moans of pain sounded like an "orchestrated choir," and forced them to dance like Michael Jackson, a public inquiry into the death of one of the detainees heard yesterday. The inquiry panel was told that Baha Mousa, a hotel worker, died from 93 injuries inflicted over 36 hours in British custody during the 2003 incident, the Telegraph reports. More»

Brown says troops home by July in surprise Baghdad visit

(NEWSER) - British Prime Minister Gordon Brown made a surprise visit to Baghdad today and announced that all but a handful of British troops will leave Iraq by July 2009. About 4,000 British service members remain in Iraq, mostly around Basra, though at the height of the war 100,000 were deployed. Since the war began 178 British troops have lost their lives, reports the Times of London. More»