Iraq: More pressure on Blair

2004-11-05 14:12

Peter Walker

London - Three British soldiers killed in a suicide attack in Iraq were named on Friday, as Prime Minister Tony Blair faced mounting criticism for sending them into a dangerous United States-run sector of the country.

The ministry of defence in London identified the dead troops as sergeant Stuart Gray, 31, Private Paul Lowe, 19, and 22-year-old private Scott McArdle, all of whom came from Fife in Scotland.

The trio, all from the Black Watch regiment, were killed the previous day along with an Iraqi translator when a vehicle-borne bomb exploded at a checkpoint they were manning by the River Euphrates.

It happened just two days after the 850-strong British battle group started full operations at Camp Dogwood, a bleak outpost to the west of the insurgent-hit town of Mahmudiyah, south-west of Baghdad.

The Black Watch, previously based in the more peaceful southern city of Basra, took over the region from US soldiers who are preparing to fight insurgents in the violence-plagued city of Fallujah.

Britain is not alone in Iraq

The redeployment, which began last week, has been hugely controversial in Britain, with Blair's critics accusing him of sending troops into harm's way largely as a symbolic gesture to show that the US is not fighting alone in Iraq.

Britain has around 8 500 military personnel in Iraq, as against around 138 000 US troops. It has suffered 73 military deaths since the start of the Iraq war in March 2003.

Speaking ahead of a European Union summit in Brussels, Blair expressed his condolences to the families of the dead soldiers, and paid tribute to "the extraordinary and heroic job" carried out by their regiment.

They were playing a crucial role in preparing for Iraq's elections in January, which were "the single most important element of bringing stability to Iraq and therefore stability to the wider Middle East", Blair said, standing alongside Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi.

Intense political pressure

As well as being a tragedy for their regiment, Thursday's deaths were the worst possible start to the Black Watch's mission for Blair, who faces intense political pressure over the Iraq campaign.

The prime minister came under immediate condemnation, with Alex Salmond, leader of the Scottish National Party, bitterly contrasting "the bravery of our soldiers with the duplicity of the politicians who sent them there".

"The dire predictions of what might happen have come true only too quickly," said the anti-war Daily Mirror tabloid in an editorial comment.

"As so often in history, the politicians and generals back home sent troops to face an uncertain enemy."

Blair pushed strongly for Britain to support the US-led war in Iraq, against the wishes of many members of his ruling Labour Party as well as a considerable proportion of the general population, and has seen his popularity slump since.

- SAPA