COPENHAGEN: Denmark has withdrawn most of the 430 troops it has stationed in Iraq earlier than expected, a report said Wednesday quoting the Danish military.
The battalion, stationed in the southern city of Basra since 2003, under British command, was supposed to begin pulling out its soldiers on August 10.
(The News)
How significant is this move?
Not much, though the coalition effort in Basra is probably due to suffer a bit extra as the U.K. continues to implement a pull-down of its involvement in the Iraq coalition.
We heard quite a bit of criticism of our methods from the Brits--some of it apparently well-founded--but the British have had enduring difficulties in Basra, which should have been one of the easier regions to police aside from its proximity to neighboring Iran.
Regarding the nation as a whole, pacifying Baghdad is far more important. Basra may serve as tempting eye-candy for the Iranians, but Iraq can be stabilized successfully from the inside out. Basra is out.
The move may serve as a rallying point for peacenicks who think that the U.S. should take its cues from whatever European country is doing something the peacenicks like at the moment.
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