Why Stay in Iraq? Bring the troops Home!

British troops should leave Iraq “sometime soon”.

That was the view of General Sir Richard Dannatt, head of the British army in October 2006 – and why Liberal Democrats called for a timetabled withdrawal back last January.

The case for an early troop withdrawal from Iraq is even stronger now.

Both political and military cases for continued British presence have become threadbare.

First, the Iraqi Parliament now wants the troops to go – even if the American-backed Iraqi Prime Minister hasn’t brought himself to admit this.

Second, having spent four years discharging the international responsibilities of an occupying force to bring stability, the British army has either completed that task - in areas where it’s possible - or cannot be expected to complete it in areas where local hostility is entrenched.

Third, as General Dannatt said last month, “the army is certainly stretched” with Iraq coming on top of Afghanistan. To have any chance of success in Afghanistan, we must pull-out from Iraq soon.

That’s why it has been so disappointing that the new Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, appears to have adopted Tony Blair’s stance on Iraq. Challenged again over the summer by Ming Campbell, Liberal Democrat Leader, to pull our troops out, Mr Brown refused.

The recent troop withdrawal from Basra only begs the question, why stay in Iraq any longer?

So it may be true the Conservatives are supporting the Government’s refusal to set out a strategy for withdrawal – just as they supported the war in Iraq originally. Yet it’s time to confront this two-party consensus. Otherwise it will be British soldiers once again who end up paying the heavy price of political misjudgement.