Prince Harry with Gurkha soldiers in Afghanistan in January, where he has been deployed with the British Army for 10 weeks. (Photo from The New York Times)From Reuters:
LONDON, Dec 10 (Reuters) - A British military withdrawal from Iraq by June 2009 will not lead to an immediate increase in the size of the UK force in Afghanistan despite the growing demands of the conflict there.
Britain still has around 4,000 troops in Iraq, stationed near Basra in the south, and defence sources say virtually all of them will be withdrawn between March and June next year, after which U.S. troops will take responsibility for the area.
It has long been thought that pulling out of Iraq, six years after the invasion, would enable Britain to commit more troops to Afghanistan, where security has deteriorated in the past year and the United States has called for more allied troops.
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My Comment: A realistic assessment on the limits of what Britain can do.