Cabinet discusses Iraq deployment
At Thursday’s weekly meeting, Cabinet Ministers are expected to be presented with the army’s report into the practicality of redeploying UK troops within Iraq.
Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon this week announced that the US military had requested that British troops replace American forces in certain parts of Iraq, allowing the Americans to be deployed on anti-insurgent operations.
He confirmed that a reconnaissance team would be dispatched to the area, and promised to inform the Commons of the outcome.
Chief of the Defence Staff, Sir Michael Walker, will today recommend to ministers whether the request should be met after a reconnaissance team visited the areas British troops could be sent to.
That could then be followed by an announcement from the Defence Secretary this afternoon, ahead of a planned defence debate in the Commons.
Although Tony Blair insisted that no decision had yet been made on whether to accede to the American request, the Prime Minister faced fierce questioning at this week’s Prime Minister’s Question Time on the potential deployment.
Conservative leader’s Michael Howard demand that Parliament be given “accurate information” concerning the troop deployment, and questioned why the deployment of a small number of UK troops was necessary considering the large number of American troops in the area.
Mr Blair said that any decision would be based on military factors, not political ones.
Mr Blair claimed that there was a “limit to what I should and can say” about troop movements, but told MPs that “we are about to enter a period of increased activity” in Iraq in the build-up to January’s elections.
The Prime Minister also insisted that the Black Watch – who are considered the most likely regiment to be moved – should still be back in the UK by Christmas.
Mr Blair is also facing opposition from his own benches on any redeployment, with a number of hitherto loyal MPs publicly expressing concerns about mission creep.
