British defense officials must be squirming. While it is common knowledge that parts of the US establishment government are unhappy about Britain’s role in Basra and Iraqi Prime Minister Maliki is almost contemptuous about British forces, now analysis about developments in the southern city do not even feature Britain.
Writing for the New York Times, three well-known American security analysts talk about their recent fact-finding visit to Basra and how they “glimpsed a model of post-American Iraq.” The words “British” and “Britain” are not mentioned once while the analysts note that “recent Iraqi operations in Basra, Sadr City and Mosul would not have succeeded without American military support.”
So much for Britain’s remaining soldiers and development workers.
