BRITISH TROOPS STEP IN TO BAIL OUT YANKS

May 22 2003 EXCLUSIVE 5,500 Paras ready to take control of Iraqi 
capital By Tom Newton Dunn Defence Correspondent COALITION chiefs 
plan to send 5,500 British Paras to Baghdad to save US troops from 
losing control of the Iraqi capital.  

Central Command top brass are terrified that war-weary American 
soldiers in Saddam Hussein's former power base have turned the 
population against them.  

Little if any peace keeping experience and only minimal training 
have been blamed for the growing disaster and continuing violence.  

One senior British defence source said last night: "We have three 
months at best to get this right. It is absolutely crucial the people 
of Baghdad can be persuaded we are there to help them.  

"Otherwise, the whole point of the operation could totally collapse and 
we could have a new war on our hands against the Iraqi people we came 
to liberate.  

"The American troops in Baghdad are not doing what is necessary. 
They are tired, they want to go home and they do not have the 
training for the job that needs to be done.  

"After 30 years of being in Northern Ireland, as well as the Balkans, 
Sierra Leone and Afghanistan, we know we have those skills and have 
offered our help."  

The urgent mission - to be given to the Paras and their mother unit 16 
Air Assault Brigade - could see them airlifted to Baghdad in weeks.  

Sensitivity surrounding the Allies' law-and-order role was all the 
higher last night as the United Nations prepared for a key vote.  

The Security Council should decide today on a resolution to let the 
US-led coalition run Iraq until it has a government. It would also 
lift sanctions so oil revenues could be used for reconstruction.  

The Paras' mission will be diplomatically called a "reinforcement". 
But it will be a deep embarrassment for US commanders - and an 
admission they may have won the war but have failed to win the peace.  

Another British military source said: "Nobody is saying the US can't 
do soldiering. But war fighting and peace keeping are very different."  

But the likely plan has also caused fury among the Paras, who have 
already been overseas and in Iraq for almost five months. Many are 
desperate to come home.  

The 5,500-strong brigade - which includes the Parachute Regiment's 
three battalions - are still on peace keeping duties around Basra.  

The three-month additional deployment to Baghdad has been scheduled 
to last until September, but could drag on until the autumn.  

Troops with 16 Air Assault Brigade were originally due to return home 
in the next few weeks. Top brass are waiting for Premier Tony Blair and 
Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon to rubber stamp the decision, before it is 
announced.  

Aid agencies have accused America's 3rd Infantry Division of having too 
few military police on Baghdad's streets, failing to halt civil disorder 
and, when troops do intervene, of being heavy handed. Some suburbs are 
almost lawless bandit country, which US soldiers seldom enter.  

And troops have been accused of firing on unarmed crowds in the nearby 
town of Falluja, killing up to 20 demonstrators.A handful of Paras 
discreetly travelled up from Basra to reoccupy the British Embassy 
in Baghdad two weeks ago. Since then, they have been acting as an 
unofficial reconnaissance force for the rest of the brigade. It emerged 
yesterday that all 60,000 US marines in the Gulf will return home 
by the end of August.  

Up to 100,000 American Army troops are expected to stay on as peace 
keepers. Relatives of Paras reacted with fury to their imminent move 
to Baghdad. Caroline Kelly, 34, wife of 3 Para Corporal Michael Kelly, 
of Colchester, said: "I want my husband home, not in another really 
dangerous place like Baghdad. "It's completely unfair. They have done 
enough already and shouldn't be sent to clear up someone else's mess."  

An MoD spokesman said: "This idea is speculation at the moment. 
All sorts of options are under consideration."  

News of the mission came as America's oldest senator accused 
President George Bush of deceiving the US into launching an illegal, 
unprovoked war on Iraq. Robert Byrd, 85, said the use of weapons of 
mass destruction to justify the conflict had "become more than 
embarrassing". But in a sign of a healing of international rifts, 
France, Germany and Russia - which had all opposed war - said they 
would back the American, British and Spanish UN resolution to lift 
sanctions.  

Meanwhile, the Queen spoke of her "great admiration" for the courage 
of the Household Cavalry in the Gulf as she presented them with new  
banners in London.

                              -==-

Source: Mirror UK
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/allnews/page.cfm?objectid=12983218&method=full
&siteid=50143&headline=BRITISH%20TROOPS%20STEP%20IN%20TO%20BAIL%20OUT%20YANKS

Cheers, Steve..

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