Britain will scrap and replace police force in Basra

Scotland on Sunday reported that Mr. Reid has ordered a complete "root and branch" review of security in the area, which is under British control, following last week's violent clashes between British troops and the Iraqi police.

Last week's events began when two British soldiers, dressed in Arab clothing, were confronted by Iraqi police in Basra. The soldiers shot and killed an Iraqi policeman during the confrontation. The soldiers' arrest, their subsequent violent rescue by British troops, and the explosive aftermath have sparked a new crisis for Tony Blair's Labour government. As Scotland on Sunday reported, the violence means that Mr. Blair's plans to reduce British troops levels in 2006 will have to be "scrapped." Troop cuts will have to be postponed until 2007 at the earliest.

The sudden U-turn on Britain's military commitment to Iraq has caused anger and despair in military circles. One former defence chief told Scotland on Sunday the Iraq expedition had been a "colossal political failure".

In comments that will pile pressure on Blair over his handling of the conflict, General Anthony Walker, a former Deputy Chief of the Defence Staff, told Scotland on Sunday: "The soldiers should have said to the politicians 'forget this, we are not going into this conflict until you tell us how you are going to deal with this country once we have won you the war'.

"But they didn't, and it now looks as though we will be there a lot longer than we planned."

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"We cannot have British soldiers being taken prisoner or held as hostages by anyone. We had to respond quickly and if necessary with force - what kind of message would this send to British soldiers everywhere if we hadn't tried everything to secure the release of our two lads.

"Hopefully, this incident will reinforce the point to terrorists that the British Army looks after its own."

Trevor Royle, diplomatic editor of the Sunday Herald, writes that the message the events send is not the one mentioned by General Lorimer, but one that says "this was not a country heading towards concord and reconciliation, but a country on the cusp of anarchy."

Critics of the war, or those who questioned the occupation, were told that coalition forces were helping to rebuild the country and train the security forces that would guarantee Iraq's future stability. Then at a stroke the arrest and subsequent springing from captivity of two undercover British soldiers showed how fragile the dividing line is between law and disorder in the British-controlled sector centred on Basra.

"The sound we'll be hearing in the weeks to come will be one of chickens coming home to roost," said a senior British Army officer who has served in Basra. "For far too long now we have been struggling to contain the situation with a brigade-sized force which is farcically small for the task it's been given. We've done some bloody good things, but the truth is that we've also had to turn a blind eye to an awful lot of iffy behaviour from the militias – assassinations, graft, vote-fixing and so on."

Writing in The Sunday Times of London, Michael Portillo, former defense minister under Prime Minister John Major and supporter of the British efforts in Iraq, writes that these are " difficult times" for people like him who backed the war in Iraq. It's not that he has become an "admirer of those who opposed the war" but that the "illusions about the war" have been shattered.

Many of the arguments that we put forward have lost their force. We liked to say that however bad things were, they were worse under Saddam Hussein. It seemed a safe claim after his reign of terror. But perhaps 100,000 Iraqis have died since liberation. Does the average Iraqi citizen feel more secure now? Hundreds daily seek work by joining the queues in the open air. They must be desperate to offer themselves as such obvious targets for suicide bombers.

We imagined that Iraqis would benefit from cleaner water, more reliable electricity and better education. But America, the land of plenty, has failed to supply creature comforts to Iraqis, just as America, the superpower, has failed to keep them safe.

Britons seem to disagree with Mr. Blair about setting a date for withdrawal. The Guardian reports on a new poll shows that for the first time, a majority of Britons want a timetable, while " ... 64 percent believe the situation in the country is worsening despite the presence of British forces. Just 12 percent now share Mr Blair's belief that British troops are actually helping to improve the security situation."

Not wanting to face a possible confrontation with members of his own party opposed to the war at this weekend's Labour Party annual meeting, The Scotsman reports that Blair's supporters "successfully blocked a rebel motion to have the war debated on the conference floor."

Also...
• Rally hails troops in Iraq, takes protesters to task ( Boston Globe
• "Make levees, not war" ( Salon.com)
• 'How can you establish a free media in such fear and anarchy?' ( Guardian)

• Feedback appreciated. E-mail Tom Regan .