. . .clearly the answer is no. In the second surprise visit to Iraq in three days British Prime Minister Gordon Brown held a press conference with his opposite number, Iraqi US stooge Nouri-Al-Maliki to announce what we already knew (THUS Passim), namely that the last 4100 British troops would finally be withdrawn from Iraq by June 2009, leaving 300 navy personnel to train the Iraqis to defend their offshore oil rigs. Despite the fact that Britain supplied the second largest contingent of forces and resources, the formal agreement was part of a declaration which also included Australia, Romania, Estonia and El Salvador, plus 200 Nato peacekeepers.
Brown and Maliki sharing an uncomfortable moment, admiring the wreath, trying to think of something to say that they didn't say on Sunday, waiting, waiting, for the shoe that never came
Nouri Al-Maliki looked slightly puzzled as to why Gordon was back so soon, especially as he actively dislikes him and thinks the Brits did a bad job in Basra, but when it was explained to him that it was Wednesday and record unemployment figures were being announced in the UK, along with partial privatisation of Royal Mail involving its sale to more foreign Johnnies he produced flowers and agreed that Democracy had been restored, sad to se the troops go etc. everything was grand. Gordon Brown in Iraq Sky News Nobody threw any shoes at the muted press conference – like everything else in Bagdhad, shoes are in short supply and Gordon Brown is very much the monkey to George W Bush’s organ grinder. Journalists were asked to wear curly Ali Baba slippers and reminded of the ongoing retraining programme for their Bagdhadiya TV colleague (only joking, they weren’t allowed in) - but to celebrate his photo opportunity, 18 people were killed and 52 wounded in a car bomb and IED incident in the city where life, according to a Brown spokesman, has returned to normal.
John J Kelly
