Global Policy Forum

By Robert MacPherson

Senior officers in the British army have been told to prepare for an occupation of Iraq lasting up to three years in the event of war and the downfall of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's government, the BBC reported Tuesday.

It quoted Ministry of Defense sources as saying that many British troops being sent to Kuwait would probably be used for peacekeeping and "rearguard" duties, rather than in combat at the front lines.

Prime Minister Tony Blair has committed 30,000 troops, 120 tanks and a naval task force led by the aircraft carrier Ark Royal to a potential US-led war on Iraq. Plans to deploy 60 additional Royal Air Force fighter jets to the Gulf region are expected to be announced this week. Iraq was set to dominate a summit Tuesday between Blair and French President Jacques Chirac, who remains unconvinced of the need for immediate military action to rid Iraq of weapons of mass destruction.

Blair was taking his foreign minister Jack Straw, defense minister Geoff Hoon and chief of defense staff Admiral Sir Michael Boyce with him to the summit at Le Touquet, on the French side of the English Channel.

In the House of Commons on Monday, Blair appealed for strength in what he called the "final phase" of a 12-year showdown with Iraq over chemical, biological and nuclear weapons. Briefing MPs on his talks Friday with US President George W. Bush, Blair said there is "unmistakable" evidence that Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein is still withholding vital information from UN weapons inspectors.

"We are entering the final phase of a 12-year history of disarmament of Iraq," he said. "Show weakness now and no one will every believe us when we try to show strength in the future. Saddam's weapons of mass destruction, and the threats they pose to the world, must be confronted."

The BBC said Tuesday that it had been told by a "senior military source" that the British army had begun planning for an occupation of Iraq that would run for three years. The country would be divided into sectors, with a different nation responsible for each sector -- a format similar to that used by NATO forces when they deployed in Bosnia in December 1995 and Kosovo in June 1999.

Separately, the BBC said, some units in 7 Armoured Brigade -- the main British Army formation going to the Gulf -- said they have been asked to protect the Americans' rear during any invasion, and to deal with prisoners.

Other units, however, would be closer to the front line, the public broadcaster said. Britain's army deployment to the Gulf includes 1 UK Armoured Division, 7 Armoured Brigade (the descendants of the legendary "Desert Rats" of World War II), 16 Air Assault Brigade, and 102 Logistics Brigade. More than 3,000 Royal Marine commandos are meanwhile travelling with the naval task force, which comprises about 15 ships.

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