Posted on 11/16/2007 8:46:37 AM PST by Rikstir
Lieutenant General Bill Rollo is the Senior British Military Representative to Iraq and Second in Command of the Coalition forces. Here he fields questions from military and civilian personnel across the MOD about the challenges now facing the country.
Now that UK forces occupy only one base (Basra Airport), can you explain what their priority tasks are? Principally to continue to train and mentor the Iraqi security forces, and to provide support for Iraqi operations, including the capability to intervene if necessary. Once Basra passes to Iraqi control, we will still be there and able to support them if required.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown recently announced that British Forces in Iraq are to be substantially reduced. Is this a political move or in tune with your strategy? The force numbers are a result of careful analysis of the troops required to carry out tasks that we anticipate doing next summer. But everything is subject to events, and if they are different to what we currently anticipate, we will do something else.
Is our policy in Iraq in tune with the US? Is there disagreement between you General Petraeus? No, our plans are fully coordinated with the US. I've found that General Petraeus is always very conscious of his allies. He is prepared to go the extra mile to ensure that our respective interests are taken on board. From a personal and professional level, it works very well.
There are claims that religious fundamentalists now control society in Basra, forcing women to wear hijabs and so on. Is secular society there dead? There are fundamentalists in Basra, but the Iraqi security forces are gradually exerting their own control. Traditionally Basra was a relatively open society. It may return to that tradition.
But Iraq was famously westernised with a high proportion of women in the professions. Do you agree that there has been a backlash? There are a lot of pressures on the secular society and Iraq is in a period of acute social trauma and instability. But I see no reason why elements of that secular society won't re-establish themselves.
How optimistic are you that progress can be made in improving living conditions for the Iraqi population? You can't live here, as I do, and travel around without being conscious of the severity of the challenges facing Iraq. Nevertheless, when I go out, I come back encouraged, as I see, slowly and unevenly, the country coming back to life.
Troops on operations for six months are to receive council tax rebates of £140. While any rebate is welcome, I don't believe that the sum is an incentive to make soldiers feel valued. What's your view? I'm a council tax payer, so any rebate is welcome. One should look at it as one element in the overall package, which has gradually developed over the years and will continue to do so. It is an improvement.
Is the American surge in Iraq having only a superficial effect, and failing to address the underlying problems? If the strategy works, why don't we do the same in the south? I think the surge, together with the change in attitude of the Sunni population, has had a very substantial effect on security across Iraq. It's designed to enable political and economic progress, and the challenge for the Iraqis and us is to make use of the opportunity. Dynamics are different in the south. There is no Sunni insurgency and the provinces face low level intra-Shia violence and criminality. The best people to deal with both are the Iraqis.
Has any politician ever asked you: "Do you have enough troops for the task we've given you?" as opposed to, "Here are all the troops you're getting, now get on with it?" I don't think commanders ever have as many forces as they would like, but our job is to look at the operational requirement and then make sure our tasks and troop numbers are broadly balanced. That's life!
The Coalition has lost the peace in Iraq. The time has come for Coalition forces to leave and allow Iraq the chance to naturally stabilise. Discuss. I don't think we've yet had peace. What we're doing is making progress towards achieving it. If you talk to Iraqis they're torn between a natural desire to find their own destiny and the knowledge that help is still required. If we were to leave now before the job is finished we would put at risk all that has been achieved. I do think it's achievable but this place is hugely dynamic, it would be stupid to try to set out a rigid timeframe for it.
Do you regard Iraq as a model for future operations or is the situation too bound up with politics and religion? All operations are bound up with politics. I think there are plenty of lessons to be learned from Iraq. Perhaps the most important thing to be able to do next time, is react rapidly and appropriately to changing circumstances.
How do calls for our withdrawal impact on the morale of the troops? It can be intensely frustrating for soldiers, who are working hard to make a difference – and doing so. But we're not the first British soldiers to be in this position and I doubt we'll be the last.
Just posted it dispel a few myths...
Good article, though the plain text doesn’t make it obvious in some places what’s a question and what’s an answer.
And the article neglects to ask the tough question, which is - why are the British still sending man-eating mutant Badgers to stalk the streets of Basra at night? /Basra concerned citizen off
yeah, sorry about the text. Follow the html link if you want to see how its supposed to be set out.
This thread from another group of English soldiers killing the enemy.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1926764/posts
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