Iraq: False impression of defeat. Blair wins

Major Mike Shearer said al-Sadr wanted to claim victory as British troops took part in a planned withdrawal. "The malign influences in the city, we have always predicted, would raise their game to create the false impression that they were driving us out" Link

db: It is/was a Brit failure of mammoth proportions. The fatal decision by Blair - taken with the full support of his cabinet including the current prime minister - to stand shoulder to shoulder with US neocons in the execution of this folly has cost us dearly in lives, material resources and international influence. The plight of Iraqis is pure horror. One can only console oneself with the realisation that through this very folly Blair has in effect pushed the value of his diaries up from around 2 to 8 million pounds.