Wargame Articles

Iraq, the end game has started June 2007

Britian has lost in Iraq. The British forces started well, but lacked the economic support to reconstruct the country to win the hearts and minds in the British area of operations. The last remaining British base in Basra (Basra Palace) is effectively under a loose siege. The nightly supply convoys are ambushed almost every day.

The key problem is that police force is heavily infiltrated by insurgents and extremists. The police are the very people Britian wants to hand control to.

The option to retreat to the heavily fortified Basra airfield is being looked at, but the American's want the British to stay on the streets in Basra. The idea of reducing the British presence below 5,000 is not feasible because of the need for self-protection.

My own view is that we have lost in Iraq, but it will take a while for the politicians to acknowledge it. The end game has now started.