US 'surge' in Iraq 'likely to fail': British lawmakers
AFP
The US "surge" of troops in Iraq is likely to fail, a British parliamentary committee said Monday as it delivered a critical report on London's foreign policy in the Middle East.
"It is too early to provide a definitive assessment of the US 'surge' but it does not look likely succeed," the House of Commons Foreign Affairs committee said in a wide-ranging document. The Commons is Britain's lower parliamentary chamber.
"The committee believes that the success of this strategy will ultimately ride on whether Iraq's politicians are able to reach agreement on a number of key issues."
Instead, it called on the government to set out what action it was taking to foster political reconciliation between Sunni and Shia Muslims and Kurds in Iraq. And it called for evidence of Iran's backing for insurgents in the south.
The report comes as Prime Minister Gordon Brown, like his predecessor Tony Blair, faces pressure to withdraw British troops.
There is growing disquiet, including within the military, that its presence is hindering rather than helping Iraq.
(Continued here.)
The US "surge" of troops in Iraq is likely to fail, a British parliamentary committee said Monday as it delivered a critical report on London's foreign policy in the Middle East.
"It is too early to provide a definitive assessment of the US 'surge' but it does not look likely succeed," the House of Commons Foreign Affairs committee said in a wide-ranging document. The Commons is Britain's lower parliamentary chamber.
"The committee believes that the success of this strategy will ultimately ride on whether Iraq's politicians are able to reach agreement on a number of key issues."
Instead, it called on the government to set out what action it was taking to foster political reconciliation between Sunni and Shia Muslims and Kurds in Iraq. And it called for evidence of Iran's backing for insurgents in the south.
The report comes as Prime Minister Gordon Brown, like his predecessor Tony Blair, faces pressure to withdraw British troops.
There is growing disquiet, including within the military, that its presence is hindering rather than helping Iraq.
(Continued here.)
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1 Comments:
Ah, the power of the headline writer !
He selectively interpreted from the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee comment that the “"It is too early to provide a definitive assessment of the U.S. 'surge' but it does not look likely to succeed" and wrote “US 'surge' in Iraq 'likely to fail'.
He missed the real story.
That being the advocacy for additional efforts to reach out to Hamas.
Britain's and the international community's refusal to speak to the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas is doing more harm than good, The committee also criticized Britain's response last year's war between Israel and Lebanon's Islamist Hezbollah movement. It said Blair's refusal as prime minister to call for an immediate ceasefire had done "significant damage to the UK's reputation". link
That is where diplomatic policy needs to be addressed.
Addressing the Hamas and Hezbollah influence is critical to Iraq, Israel, Lebanon, Palestine and Syria.
Hezbollah threatens Lebanon and most likely is training Shiites radicals.
Jihadists are coming into Iraq through Syria.
When will the American leaders realize that supporting Lebanon will do more good than giving foreign aid to Saudi Arabia and Egypt ? Isolating Hezbollah from the Lebanese population will encourage moderates to reject these extremist groups.
The Senate has a Foreign Relations Committee whose members are assigned world regions.
Although it may have been good for Norm Coleman to visit southern Minnesota last week, I hope he will quickly schedule a trip to the Middle East. Senator Coleman do your job …learn firsthand about the region that your Foreign Relations Committee will be spending our foreign aid dollars.
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