Army chiefs fear Iraq exit will be Britain’s Saigon moment

British troops will start to pull back from Basra next month, and the withdrawal is predicted to be 'ugly and embarrassing'
Michael Smith and Sarah Baxter in Washington
Sunday Times of London

WHEN the British went into Iraq they were believed to have more expertise in counter-insurgency than their US allies still learning the lessons of humiliation in Vietnam.

But now they are facing their own “Saigon moment” with plans for a withdrawal predicted by some on the British side to be ignominious and by a US military adviser to be ugly and embarrassing.

Not only that, but the British are expected to rely on US troops for cover to protect their convoys. Some officers are expressing concern about the way their campaign is ending.

Next month the British will pull back from their last base in the city of Basra at Saddam’s old summer palace. What the Ministry of Defence is keen to avoid is a photograph of the last helicopter taking off from the palace. The image would be too close to that of the last helicopter taking off from the American embassy in Saigon in April 1975, an enduring symbol of US defeat.

The troops on the British helicopters will not be leaving Iraq. They will be pulling back to their base at the airport outside the city to await the final order to withdraw.

Air Chief Marshal Sir Jock Stirrup, chief of defence staff, has denied US claims that the British have been defeated in southern Iraq, saying that their mission was to put the Ira-qis back in control and that they will soon achieve it. But British soldiers fear that withdrawal will look like defeat, and the way in which it is taking place will make them more vulnerable, resulting in higher casualties.

(Continued here.)