Watching the politicians, especially in Australia, try to re-invent the English language - or simply engage in spin or outright lying - is rather fascinating as they seek to call the partial withdrawal of British troops from Iraq anything but that.
Now we have Australian Defence Minister Nelson telling the world that "victory" may not be possible in Iraq.
Dr Rosemary Hollis from Chatham House in London says the British strategy is a withdrawal and one driven to a large extent by the advice of concerned military leaders in Iraq who have warned that British troops may be doing more harm than good in the country.
On Radio National's The World Today yesterday Dr. Hollis said:
"I do think that there is a tremendous problem for all the coalition forces, and for the Americans in particular, in that there will be many, many Iraqis who have worked with the whole enterprise and who have taken enormous risks and relied on the American word and the British word, for that matter, that they would stay until they had rectified many of the problems that began to emerge. And that sense of betrayal will haunt the allies as they leave Iraq.
But commanders on the ground, and eventually politicians, are indeed making decisions that by staying on the ground in order to avoid being accused of betrayal, they may simply be keeping their own forces in harm's way and not actually able to make a fundamental difference."
Read the full transcript or listen to the full interview here.
Now we have Australian Defence Minister Nelson telling the world that "victory" may not be possible in Iraq.
Dr Rosemary Hollis from Chatham House in London says the British strategy is a withdrawal and one driven to a large extent by the advice of concerned military leaders in Iraq who have warned that British troops may be doing more harm than good in the country.
On Radio National's The World Today yesterday Dr. Hollis said:
"I do think that there is a tremendous problem for all the coalition forces, and for the Americans in particular, in that there will be many, many Iraqis who have worked with the whole enterprise and who have taken enormous risks and relied on the American word and the British word, for that matter, that they would stay until they had rectified many of the problems that began to emerge. And that sense of betrayal will haunt the allies as they leave Iraq.
But commanders on the ground, and eventually politicians, are indeed making decisions that by staying on the ground in order to avoid being accused of betrayal, they may simply be keeping their own forces in harm's way and not actually able to make a fundamental difference."
Read the full transcript or listen to the full interview here.
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