Foreign office blasts U.S. Iraqi tactics

[demlandslide2004]

LONDON (Reuters) -

A leaked memo from the Foreign Office blasts "heavy handed tactics" by the U.S. military in Iraq and soldiers' abuse of prisoners, the Sunday Times has reported.

London has been Washington's most staunch ally throughout the conflict, but the paper said the memo "blows apart" Prime Minister Tony Blair's public insistence that there are no differences between Britain and the United States over strategy.

The paper reported the memo said under the heading "Problems": "Heavy-handed U.S. military tactics in Falluja and Najaf some weeks ago have fuelled both Sunni and Shi'ite opposition to the coalition and lost us much public support inside Iraq."

It added: "The scandal of the treatment of detainees at Abu Ghraib (prison) has sapped the moral authority of the coalition, inside Iraq and internationally."

The Foreign Office refused to comment on the report on Saturday night.

http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsChannel.jhtml;jsessionid=4ZEKY2WSVPCFACRBAEZSFEY?type=topNews

[nadinbrzezinski]

1. Methinks Poodle

will face more troubles

Poor poodle... NOT

[dArKeR]

2. Leak Shows UK Disquiet Over Iraq

A newspaper on Saturday published what it claimed were excerpts from a leaked government memo in which British officials expressed misgivings over U.S. tactics in Iraq.

The Sunday Times said the Foreign Office document described some American military tactics as “heavy-handed” and claimed that the Iraqi prisoner abuse scandal had dented the coalition's moral authority.

Prime Minister Tony Blair's office couldn't immediately comment on the report. No one was available for comment at the Foreign Office late Saturday.

Blair has resisted calls from some in his Labour Party to distance himself from U.S. President George W. Bush, following the images of Iraqi detainees being humiliated and mistreated by American soldiers at Baghdad's Abu Ghraib prison.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/04/30/iraq/main614905.shtml

[Spazito]

3. Call me cynical but...

this leak is very convenient for Blair. He was taking heat for saying we don't air our differences with the US publicly and, coincidentally, this "leaked" memo comes out. I read it as 'see, we do criticize the US' in hopes that it will neutralize that criticism of Blair.

[Moderator]

4. Duplicate topic, please discuss here, thanks

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x575611