seruriermarshal
06-18-2004, 11:20 PM
NATO force with 3,000 British troops to go to Iraq: report
LONDON (AFP) Jun 19, 2004
London and Washington are drawing up a plan to send a NATO force including up to 3,000 British troops to Iraq to support the interim Iraqi government as it takes over power, a British newspaper said Saturday.
The troops would be "temporarily extracted" from NATO and labelled a British-led international force to make it more politically acceptable to members of the alliance -- notably France and Germany -- that were opposed to the war, The Guardian said.
The force would come from NATO's Allied Rapid Reaction Corps, based in Germany under the command of a British general, Richard Dannatt, reinforced by a British battle group, the newspaper said.
About 60 percent of the corps are British, it added.
Officials told The Guardian that the plan is expected to be formally agreed at the NATO summit in Istanbul on the eve of the official handover of sovereignty on June 30.
Defence Minister Geoff Hoon announced on Thursday that Britain is to send an extra 270 troops to Iraq as part of a rotation of forces based there.
More than 600 Royal Marine commandos will be sent to Iraq from next week, replacing two other units whose tour of duty is about to end.
This would result in a net increase in the number of British troops in Iraq of 270, taking the total to about 9,200.
It will be the second boost in less than a month for British forces in Iraq, based in the southern city of Basra.
At the end of May, Hoon told parliament that 370 extra troops were being moved to the British zone of occupation to shore up security after the handover to the interim Iraqi government led by Ayad Allawi.
The dispatch of troops to Iraq is a sensitive issue in Britain, where many people opposed the US-led war to remove Saddam Hussein and opinion polls have shown strong support for removing British forces immediately.
Fifty-nine British soldiers have died in Iraq, including 33 who died after US President George W. Bush declared major combat operations over on May 1,
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From (http://www.spacewar.com/2004/040618230721.jhg9k4t4.html)
LONDON (AFP) Jun 19, 2004
London and Washington are drawing up a plan to send a NATO force including up to 3,000 British troops to Iraq to support the interim Iraqi government as it takes over power, a British newspaper said Saturday.
The troops would be "temporarily extracted" from NATO and labelled a British-led international force to make it more politically acceptable to members of the alliance -- notably France and Germany -- that were opposed to the war, The Guardian said.
The force would come from NATO's Allied Rapid Reaction Corps, based in Germany under the command of a British general, Richard Dannatt, reinforced by a British battle group, the newspaper said.
About 60 percent of the corps are British, it added.
Officials told The Guardian that the plan is expected to be formally agreed at the NATO summit in Istanbul on the eve of the official handover of sovereignty on June 30.
Defence Minister Geoff Hoon announced on Thursday that Britain is to send an extra 270 troops to Iraq as part of a rotation of forces based there.
More than 600 Royal Marine commandos will be sent to Iraq from next week, replacing two other units whose tour of duty is about to end.
This would result in a net increase in the number of British troops in Iraq of 270, taking the total to about 9,200.
It will be the second boost in less than a month for British forces in Iraq, based in the southern city of Basra.
At the end of May, Hoon told parliament that 370 extra troops were being moved to the British zone of occupation to shore up security after the handover to the interim Iraqi government led by Ayad Allawi.
The dispatch of troops to Iraq is a sensitive issue in Britain, where many people opposed the US-led war to remove Saddam Hussein and opinion polls have shown strong support for removing British forces immediately.
Fifty-nine British soldiers have died in Iraq, including 33 who died after US President George W. Bush declared major combat operations over on May 1,
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From (http://www.spacewar.com/2004/040618230721.jhg9k4t4.html)