Brown ready to rain on Bush parade with Iraq troop pull-out
Monday, June 16, 2008 at 08:07AM 
Gordon Brown is ready to override the misgivings of George Bush by going ahead with a major announcement on British troop withdrawals from Iraq. The US President will sit down to talks with Mr Brown today after their dinner at Downing Street last night sparked anti-Bush protests in Parliament Square.
Gordon Brown is ready to override the misgivings of George Bush by going ahead with a major announcement on British troop withdrawals from Iraq. The US President will sit down to talks with Mr Brown today after their dinner at Downing Street last night sparked anti-Bush protests in Parliament Square.
Before he arrived at No 10, Mr Bush issued a veiled warning to Mr Brown that now was not the right time to be withdrawing forces from Iraq, saying such a decision depended on success of the allied mission. "I am confident that he, like me, will listen to our commanders to make sure that the sacrifices that have gone forward won't be unravelled by drawdowns that may not be warranted at this point in time," Mr Bush added.
But David Miliband, the Foreign Secretary, signalled that Mr Brown would go ahead with plans to pull out British forces when the training of Iraqi forces was completed. Brushing aside tensions with the President, Mr Brown plans to make the announcement on the remaining 4,100 troops in Basra before the end of next month, when MPs begin their summer recess.
The Prime Minister had planned to reduce the British deployment to 3,500 but delayed the move following an upsurge in violence. More British troops are needed in Afghanistan and the Iraq withdrawal could help the overstretched military.
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