Secret plan to keep UK troops permanently in Iraq

[AGENDA21]

BRITAIN is laying secret plans to maintain a permanent military presence in Iraq.

Ministers and military officials are in negotiations with their American counterparts over the British contribution to the long-term effort to maintain peace and stability in post-Saddam Iraq once the country is handed over to its newly elected government.

The scale of the commitment is yet to be formally agreed, but defence sources confirmed that it could see the UK maintaining a military base in south Iraq, near Basra, which it currently controls, for years to come.

The news of the potential extended military posting in one of the world's most dangerous trouble spots came as a commander admitted that British soldiers preparing to deploy to lawless southern Afghanistan were "apprehensive" about the threats they will face.

http://news.scotsman.com/politics.cfm?id=183752006

[Trevelyan]

1. BBC: Sharp increase in UK bankruptcies and reposessions (!!!)

The credit bubble just burst. Prepare for a bumpy ride.
Financial incentives for UK citizens to join the military??
=
BBC: Sharp increase in UK bankruptcies and reposessions (!!!)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4676636.stm

Nearly 70,000 people became insolvent in 2005, the highest since records began, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has said.

There were a record 20,461 insolvencies in England & Wales during the final quarter of 2005, a 57% annual rise. At the same time, the Department for Constitutional Affairs (DCA) revealed that home repossession orders also rose sharply in the final quarter of 2005.

The figures show the total number of homeowners being taken to court during the final three months of 2005 by lenders pursuing mortgage debt rose 50% year on year to 31,018. (Also buried on this Friday, the Council of Mortgage Lenders reports that actual repossessions, not just orders, are up 70%!!!)

Nation shall speak peace unto Nation

[muriel_volestrangler]

3. People who go insolvent or have their homes repossessed aren't military

recruitment material - they're too old. Mass unemployment might make joining the military more appealing for the young people they'd want, but not problems that normally apply to people who have already settled down and got themselves long term jobs.

[DemInDistress]

2. its funny..last week a british soldier died in Iraq and the people

were screaming about that,..Their not high on this war like the neocons of america are..now you post permanent bases.. I just don't see it happening.. The brits were burned once occupying Iraq (Baghdad) back in 1914. They stayed 18 yrs before fleeing with their tails tucked between their legs. It was no picnic, for 18 yrs the war came to them, many died.. So this idea of British bases seems premature..

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

4. It seems the Iraqis have different plans.

Of course, they are deluded in thinking that Iraq belongs to them.

Unfortunately, Amurka and its fellow conquistadores are deluded to think that it doesn't matter what the Iraqis think.