Brown signals Iraq troops withdrawal

Interesting stuff! In keeping with his worry about being 'artificial' he has laid out no concrete plans, but:

Gordon Brown... paved the way for the withdrawal of British troops from Iraq, promising a "fundamental change" of mission in the first half of 2009.

The Graun takes his statement at face value.

"We will continue to reduce the number of British troops in Iraq," Brown said.

"Just as last year we moved from combat to 'overwatch', we would expect a further fundamental change of mission in the first months of 2009 as we make the transition to a long term bilateral partnership with Iraq, similar to the normal relationships which our military forces have with other important countries in the region."

Another unabashed triumph for Our Boys (tm). The Indie, on the otherhand, makes the obvious link between 2009 and changes in American politics.

Although he is refusing to set a detailed timetable for withdrawal, it is clear Mr Brown is in agreement with the US presidential candidate Barack Obama on the need for military action in Afghanistan to take priority. Both appear to be working to a 16-month timetable.

The anti-Bush backlash of 2005 will finally take some political shape (not the one we'd like perhaps but...) when Obama or McCain take office next January. Obama has promised to be different, McCain will probably have to show he's different to Bush with regards to foreign policy. The the PNAC strategy has not swept all before it, everyone knows it, everyone expects some kind of 'change'.

Gordon Brown is just moving with that change. The war and occupation in Iraq has long been unpopular and discredited. However, the British government chose to go with 50 years of tradition, rather than the democratically expressed will of the people.

The anti-war movement exposed British democracy as being at the mercy of American power. Even in this climbdown nothing has changed.