UK Sending 800 More Troops to Iraq -Defense Source

[seruriermarshal]

UK Sending 800 More Troops to Iraq -Defense Source

LONDON (*******) - Britain is sending up to 800 more troops to bolster the southern zone under its control in Iraq (news - web sites), a military source told ******* on Thursday "They are not at this point going any further out of the British area," the source said. "We are looking at up to 800 extra."

[Roger Rabbit]

UK sending more troops to Iraq

Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon has announced an increase of about 370 British troops in Iraq, bringing the total to 8,900.
Mr Hoon gave details of adjustments to numbers of troops in the area of southern Iraq under British control.

The changes are being made at the request of commanders on the ground.

No decision has been taken on sending more troops to fill the gap left by the withdrawal of forces from Spain, Honduras and the Dominican Republic.

These are sensible adjustments at the request of the General Officer Commanding to UK forces in Multinational Division South East (MND SE

In a statement to MPs Mr Hoon said the 1st Battalion the Black Watch, trained in operating out of Warrior personnel carriers, would replace the 1 Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders when their tour of duty ends in July.

This would mean a net increase of 200 troops and was a response to the "continuing threat from violent groups in the area around Al Amarah".

Mr Hoon said in the face of continued mortar and rocket attacks on UK troops, 69 Squadron from 36 Regiment Royal Engineers - 170 troops - would also be deployed for three months.

The defence secretary said these would "carry out force protection work, including the construction of additional physical defences in British bases to reduce the threat posed by the kind of attacks we have seen in recent weeks".

He also told MPs he had reduced the notice to move of 40 Commando, Royal Marines.

The changes followed requests from the General Officer Commanding British forces in the region around Basra, Major General Andrew Stewart, Mr Hoon said.

A Ministry of Defence spokesman said any extra troops would only be sent to the area of southern Iraq already under British control: "They are going nowhere else," he added.

Downing Street said the statement related to operational matters rather than strategic decisions and was "a response to a specific need identified in our theatre" and was "a routine operational matter".

Shadow defence secretary Nicholas Soames said the deployment of the Black Watch so soon after a previous tour in Iraq showed the extraordinary overstretch the Armed Forces were facing.

Paul Keetch, the Liberal Democrats defence spokesman, also questioned whether the deployments meant the security situation in the region was deteriorating.

He said if the government wanted to continue receiving the support of the Commons, it must secure the will of MPs for any extension in remit of British troops.

Mr Hoon's statement comes after Tony Blair warned that al-Qaeda would try to block the hand over of power to an interim Iraqi government, due to happen on 30 June.

The prime minister also denied suggestions on Wednesday of splits between London and Washington over whether the new Iraqi government would be able to veto US and British troop operations after the handover.

[Felix]

Any word on what unit the new troops are gonna be from?

[W(M)D]

Any word on what unit the new troops are gonna be from?

Yeah, a very p*ssed off one. Second time round for lots of the guys out there. British Army is just too small.

[ShadowNeo]

600 of them are Black Watch, not sure about the others.

[Roger Rabbit]

600 of them are Black Watch

No, from the news source i posted then it would seem the Black Watch are replacing the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, they are not part of the extra 800 troops. Correct me if i'm wrong.


In a statement to MPs Mr Hoon said the 1st Battalion the Black Watch, trained in operating out of Warrior personnel carriers, would replace the 1 Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders when their tour of duty ends in July.

[Royal]

As the report states, the extras are Sappers from 36Rgt RE and one of the STRE's.

40 Commando are due to roulement there anyway (as are the Black Watch) but both units (who were there last year) may well go early.

The report is incorrect in saying that no decision has been taken on units to backfill the Spanish/Honduran and Dominican withdrawal. It has. It just hasn't been announced. US units are backfilling and will be replaced when our guys have completed pre-deployment training and OPTAG/SST.

[ShadowNeo]

Ah ok, I was assuming that the replacement Black Watch were in a larger number than the Argyll's resulting in the net increase (probably a mix up on the local news when I saw it).

[GrantT]

The report is incorrect in saying that no decision has been taken on units to backfill the Spanish/Honduran and Dominican withdrawal. It has.

What makes you so certain?

[Royal]

The report is incorrect in saying that no decision has been taken on units to backfill the Spanish/Honduran and Dominican withdrawal. It has.

What makes you so certain?

Because I know. I was one of the people who had to say "we can't go now, the guys aren't trained or prepared". We had guys down to 24Hrs NTM but fortunately MoD saw sense.