British commander says forces accomplished Iraq mission

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: Major General Andy Salmon, the Commander of the Multinational Division in Basra, believes the war was worth the sacrifice of the 179 British servicemen and women who have died so far fighting in Iraq. He also believes that now is the time for the British military to return home. “It is a case of mission accomplished,” Maj. General Salmon told The Sunday Telegraph. “The Iraqis now effectively run their own affairs. They control the streets, and the militias have more or less been defeated.” He believes that, with the right investment, Basra could become a major international city, like Dubai. “It’s close to Iraq’s only deep-water port, it sits at the top of the Persian Gulf, and it has a rail link which extends to the Turkish border, so it’s knocking on the door of the EU. I’m very confident that in 10, maybe 20 years’ time, this place will be transformed – and a large part of that is down to the British troops who served here. Today, Basra and southern Iraq are both relatively stable. The “monopoly of violence”, according to Maj. General Salmon, is now in the hands of the Iraqi Army. AmR (P)/SR 1