Brits Go Home! Part 3 -- The Americans Are Taking Over

A burned Iraqi army tank is seen on a street in the southern city of Basra (March 2008): Photo from CNN

Americans Are Prepared To Carry On Filling The Gap -- Times Online

Far from leaving the south of the country to Iraqi forces, the Americans are planning to fill any gap created by a British pullout of all its troops, top US officials say.

Up to 3,000 American troops would be deployed to the south, with a brigade or divisional headquarters established either at the Basra air station – where the bulk of the British force is located – or at a huge logistics camp at Shaibah, south of the city.

This would be seen as confirmation of what many regard as already a reality: that the Americans have been replacing the British in Basra since April, when the Iraqi Prime Minister turned to the United States rather than to Britain for his attack on Shia militia extremists there.

Up to 900 American troops from the US Marine Corps and the 82nd Airborne Division who were embedded with the Iraqi Army in Baghdad were deployed to Basra, along with thousands of Iraqi soldiers, to drive out the extremists.

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My Comment: This is the final scene in this war for the British .... a thank you note from the Iraqis, and the Americans (which the U.K. command had criticized for much of the war) taking over.