ALAN COWELL
"LONDON, Feb. 21 — In sharp contrast to the American troop buildup in Baghdad, Prime Minister Tony Blair of Britain announced today that up to 1,600 of the roughly 7,100 British troops in southern Iraq will begin withdrawing in coming months." Consequently, the Danish and Lithuanian troops are also considering removing the troops that they have there from Iraq. He decided that it would be better for both the welfare of British troops (who were under constant fire from insurgents) and for the rising governmental and army power in Iraq that they remove themselves from southern Iraq. They are going to keep troops near the Iranian border, however. The White House supports this decision by Blair and endorses the removal of troops to continue through July as planned.
This is both good news and bad news for the American army. It means, of course that there are people going home, which may lead to the future removal of American troops as well; however, it also means that for the time being, they are on their own in these areas. Hearing this raises my optimism about the war, and thoughts that perhaps they will come up with a solution faster that they have seemed to be finding one in the past. If the next few weeks are not worse than the past few, perhaps there is some hope of bringing some men home soon.
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