With troop shift, Britons fear Iraq 'mission creep'

But any reversals - and the move promises many potential setbacks - are likely to weigh heavily at the polls. Seventy-one percent of people wanted Blair to set a date for troop pullout, not wade deeper into the imbroglio, according to the most recent survey.

Militarily, the transfer is workable and even shrewd, experts say. The Black Watch has long experience in Iraq, having taken part in the 2003 invasion, and as such is better placed than fresh US troops would be. It could be used to guard supply convoys through volatile terrain or may be used to shore up an entire sector, perhaps the Iskandariya-Latifiya hot spot south of Baghdad. The force, which may number closer to 1,000 when support staff are included, could make a real impact, despite its relatively small size, experts say.

"One highly trained battle group from the UK can make a big difference," says Major Heyman. "These are professionals, not national guardsmen. Multiply that figure by at least five to get their true effectiveness."

But the dangers are formidable. Public skepticism is only likely to be reinforced if British casualties skyrocket. The public here has, after all, become used to short, successful military interventions after the experience of Bosnia, Kosovo, and Sierra Leone in recent years. "The British public is not frightened of casualties, but it does get angry at pointless casualties," says Professor Clarke. "This is Blair's problem."

"This deployment could be the thin end of a pretty thick wedge," he adds. "If the US offensive in Fallujah goes wrong, then the British will have to stay and maybe reinforce. This may be the beginning of a war that we didn't sign up for."

The deployment also makes British forces subject to American command, which has worked in the past but presents problems in its approach to peacekeeping.

"The US is more aggressive than we are," notes Jeremy Kitsell, a former reservist who served for five months in southern Iraq. "With all the peacekeeping we have done all over the world, we tend to do it better than them. They tend to be rougher."

Members of Parliament have also homed in on this risk. Former Foreign Secretary Robin Cook told Parliament this week: "It is the restraint by the British forces that has won them respect among the Iraqis. Is it really possible for them to maintain that restraint if they are redeployed to a US sector that has not been showing the same level of restraint?"

Removing the Black Watch from Basra will, moreover, strip the British sector of its reserve unit - a force that was required when violence flared up there in August. Prolonged absence would probably necessitate reinforcements.

"We do have a reserve force in Cyprus, and if the British commanders on the ground wanted them to deploy for any reason then they would be sent down there as quickly as possible," says one defense ministry official.

Page: 1 | 2