Hoon confirms Iraq redeployment
The Secretary of State for Defence has confirmed that the Black Watch battlegroup will be redeployed following a request from the Americans.
Though no details of the exact area were revealed, the troops will move into Multinational Division South West to relieve a US division who will take up counter-insurgency operations.
In all around 850 people will be moved, comprising of the armoured division of the Black Watch along with support and logistics staff.
In a statement to the House of Commons, following this morning’s Cabinet meeting, Geoff Hoon was keen to stress that there is “compelling justification” for the move, and the decision has been made entirely on military grounds.
Mr Hoon told MPs that the troops will be in place for “weeks rather than months” and rejected press reports that there were plans to send a further 1300 troops to Iraq.
In terms of the forces’ operation, Mr Hoon stressed that though the troops would co-ordinate with the US chain of command on a day to day basis, they would remain under operational control of UK generals. In addition, he said that any change to their mission would be referred back to the UK command.
The rules of engagement will remain the same, Mr Hoon confirmed.
He told MPs that they could not consider the current UK area of responsibility in isolation, and that the UK’s role must be considered with “the context of the overall security situation”, with the ultimate aim of ensuring secure conditions for January’s elections. This deployment, the Defence Secretary said, was a “vital part of the process of creating the right conditions” for elections.
As to why the Black Watch had to be deployed, rather than other American troops, Mr Hoon stressed that they are a specialised and highly trained force, with a unique blend of skills and armoury. The American specialist armed forces are, he said, already committed to other areas in Iraq.
The 1st Scots Guard will provide cover in the British areas around Basra.
Concluding, Mr Hoon stressed that this deployment is “limited in scope, time and space” and is in no way a permanent move.
Responding for the Conservatives, Nicholas Soames welcomed the statement, saying it has ended the “unacceptable” confusion over the deployment in the past few days.
The Tories, he said, would support the deployment as a “necessary, operational, military contribution”, though he again criticised the “exceptionally shabby way” the families of the Black Watch troops have been treated.
He gave a list of further questions he wanted answers on though, including a clarification of the rules of engagement, whether there are any other plans for further redeployments, and whether there will be a requirement for additional troops in the run up to the January elections.
Mr Hoon hit back at the suggestions that soldiers have been badly treated, saying that the Black Watch have gone out of their way to keep families informed, and accused Mr Soames of scoring “cheap political points” at the expense of hard working soldiers.
Speaking for the Liberal Democrats, Paul Keetch said that they would not support the redeployment. He again asked for the issue to be put to a vote in the House, saying that it was significant that the troops were being asked to move into a different area.
