Polls show Britons want Iraq troops home
Majority of Britons want troops withdrawn from Iraq as soon as possible, two new opinion polls show
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Tuesday, 24, Oct 2006 08:34
The majority of Britons want the country's troops withdrawn from Iraq as soon as possible, according to two new opinion polls published today.
More than 60 per cent of people questioned in an ICM poll for the Guardian said that they wanted British troops to be withdrawn from Iraq this year, even if their mission in the country had not been completed and if Washington were pressing London to keep its armed forces there.
Almost half (45 per cent) of the 1,019 adults questioned in the telephone poll, which took place between October 20th and 22nd, said they wanted British troops to be withdrawn from Iraq immediately, while a further 16 per cent think British troops should stay until the end of the year.
Just 30 per cent supported the stance taken by the prime minister to keep British troops in Iraq until its own military personnel and police services are capable of controlling security there without the aid of coalition troops.
Increasing public concern about the continuing presence of British troops in Iraq is also reflected in a separate poll for the Independent, which found that 62 per cent of people want soldiers to be withdrawn from the region as soon as possible.
Of those questioned for the CommunicateResearch survey, 72 per cent said they thought the war in Iraq was "unwinnable", although a further 72 per cent expected that Iraq would descend into civil war if British and American troops were withdrawn from the country.
Evidence of growing public unease about the war in Iraq is likely to come as a blow to the government, which insisted yesterday that British troops would only be withdrawn from Iraq when it was appropriate to do so.
Iraq's deputy prime minister has echoed Downing Street's determination to avoid the setting of an inflexible date for the transferral of responsibility for security in his country from coalition troops to Iraqi forces.
Barham Salih made his comments after meeting with Tony Blair yesterday amid speculation that the prime minister would place pressure on the Iraqi government to takeover control in the country, which has witnessed growing sectarian violence and insurgent attacks against coalition troops in recent months.
"We hope by the end of this year half of the Iraqi provinces will come under Iraqi command," Mr Salih told reporters outside Downing Street after his meeting with Mr Blair.
"We hope that by next time we will be expediting and fast-tracking that process to show to the Iraqi people first and foremost, and then to the rest of the international community including the generous people of the UK and the US, that there is progress in Iraq," he added.
UK foreign secretary Margaret Beckett told the BBC's World At One programme that the government's policy was one of gradual withdrawal from Iraq and that "it would be a mistake to set some kind of false deadline for people to work towards".
Her comments come amidst increasing debate both here and in the United States about when coalition forces should be withdrawn from Iraq, with Britain's army chief, General Richard Dannatt, warning earlier this month that British troops should leave soon as their presence was exacerbating the security situation there.
Meanwhile, pressure is growing for a Commons debate over whether or not the US and British leaders responsible for the 2003 invasion of Iraq made the right decision.
Calling for such a debate, Liberal Democrat leader, Sir Menzies Campbell said: "If we are to salvage anything from Iraq the essential first step is an admission from the prime minister and President Bush that they got it wrong."
"Their strategy is in ruins," he added.