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Britain Today, America Tomorrow?

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki says it is time for the British forces to pack up their bags and leave the country. Well, not exactly in those words. But that was more or less the drift of his argument in a chat with Britain’s Times newspaper this week.

Commenting on the security situation in the south of the country where the British forces have mostly been based, Prime Minister Maliki bluntly said that at their current strength of 4,100 they were “definitely ... no longer necessary” in Iraq.

As the end of the United Nations’ mandate for foreign forces led by the US and UK in Iraq approaches fast, the Iraqi leadership is trying to send the message to the coalition that it is willing and ready to take total charge of Iraq.

Prime Minister Maliki has already been holding meetings and consultations with a cross-section of the country’s political, religious and tribal leaders to evolve a consensus over the nation’s future. The Prime Minister’s eviction notice to the British troops, especially his serious tone, appears to have come as a jolt to the UK and United States.

However, it is time for London and Washington to face the reality that all said and done what they have in Iraq is military occupation and that it has to end sooner or later. Better sooner than later.

In fact, the US-led coalition should be relieved that the leaders and people of Iraq are prepared to take back the reins of their country after long years of war and destruction.

The Maliki call deserves honest and realistic appraisal on the part of the US and UK leaders.

Despite the initial successes in places like Basra, the British experience in Iraq has been far from pleasant, largely thanks to their own actions. Which is why the Prime Minister let his displeasure be known during the interview suggesting that the British forces put their own security ahead of those they were supposed to protect.

Which is hardly an unreasonable comment given the shenanigans of the British troops in cities like Basra where they joined hands with the Shia death squads to take on the Sunni population. The British troops might not have been involved in disgraceful episodes like the Abu Ghraib but they have had their fair share of abuse, torture and persecution of the local population.

Which is why today the British are as much hated as the Americans in Iraq. And all the good work that they might have once done has been squandered.

Anyway it’s no point in crying over spilt milk. The Iraqi people and the occupation powers have to forget the past and look to the future. Today it is the UK, tomorrow it will be the turn of the US troops to call it quits.

However, given the massive reconstruction and development work that is needed in Iraq and the serious security challenges it faces, the country will still need the support of the US and other Western allies in months and years to come. Which means fortunately or unfortunately for Iraq, the Western nations will continue to maintain their presence in some way or the other in the country for a long, long time to come.