The British In Iraq (merged thread)

[Fuchs]

Saw on today's Early Bird:
The British apparently made a deal that no troops would enter Basra without the Defense Secretary's approval, thus keeping them out of combat with the militias and Mahdi elements.

I fail to see the scandal.
Iraq is supposed to be a quite sovereign nation, what's wrong not to execute any military operations on its soil if its defense secretary doesn't agree?

I mean - if THAT kept the British out of Basra, then it's the Iraqi cabinet's (SecDef) fault.

If in turn the Iraqi government equaled the enemy - what would be the point of clearing Basra instead of simply leaving?

[Cavguy]

I fail to see the scandal.
Iraq is supposed to be a quite sovereign nation, what's wrong not to execute any military operations on its soil if its defense secretary doesn't agree?

I mean - if THAT kept the British out of Basra, then it's the Iraqi cabinet's (SecDef) fault.

If in turn the Iraqi government equaled the enemy - what would be the point of clearing Basra instead of simply leaving?

I think it was the UK Defence Secretary, not the Iraqi. According to the article, Maliki wanted the British to execute the operation, and he's the PM.