Alex Miller
There have been renewed calls for the withdrawal of British troops from Iraq after it was announced that 850 personnel from the Scottish Black Watch regiment are to be moved from the relative security of Basra in southern Iraq to Hilla, a much more dangerous area 95 kilometres south of Baghdad.
The October 21 Scottish Socialist Voice reported that "The troops will be moved northwards to replace US troops while they try to recapture the rebel stronghold of Fallujah. This new escalation of the war has all the hallmarks of a reckless pre-election gamble by a president desperate to save his own political skin."
In the October 24 Observer, Brenda Brady, who has two sons serving in the regiment, said "I am so angry at the callous and heartless way we have been treated and at the lies we have been told. One minute we are being told that the regiment may no longer exist. The next the boys are being asked to give their all to clear up after the Americans."
In the same report, James Buchanan, whose 26-year-old son Gary is serving in Iraq, said: "We've had lies, lies and more lies about this war from [British secretary of state for defence] Geoff Hoon and [British PM] Tony Blair. Why should we believe them now when they say our boys will be back by Christmas?"
In the October 19 Independent, Scottish Socialist Party leader Tommy Sheridan also condemned the move: "It's bad enough young men from Scotland's housing schemes and towns are sent to Iraq to kill and be killed for Tony Blair and the Union Jack, but they are being sent into even greater danger for the disastrous incompetence of George Bush who is pulling the world into catastrophe."
Rose Gentle, whose 19-year-old son Gordon was killed in Basra in June, called for a strong turnout at an SSP-backed anti-war demonstration that will take place in her home area, Pollok, on October 30. The October 13 Scotsman quoted Mrs Gentle as saying "My son should never have been sent to Iraq in the first place. Tony Blair lied to justify an illegal invasion. He has the blood of Gordon and thousands of others on his hands."
From Green Left Weekly, November 3, 2004.
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