http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/06/27/4345 Every day the Prime Minister's Spokesman meets a small coterie of political journalists known as 'the lobby' for a topical chat, or 'briefing'. Mon, 06 Oct 2008 22:51:08 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.2.2 http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/06/27/4345#comment-6514 George Thu, 28 Jun 2007 19:10:04 +0000 http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/06/27/4345#comment-6514 Watch out for Brown trying to spin the retreat under fire from Basra and Southern Iraq as a strategic 'draw down' or some such nonsense. The military have described the deaths of the three soldiers erlier today as a sign of 'success on the ground'. What abject lunacy. The coalition have been making enemies of the Shiites in the South by systematic stupidity, including killing and torture of civilians, for years. They are reaping the harvest of this now and are slowly but surely being driven out. They are reduced to one base in Basra which they can hardly defend, the mortar attacks occurring every other day. They are about to abandon that and retreat to the Airport later this year. Brown and his new Foreign Office appointments will try to spin this as a considered decision to withdraw (much media drivel about Brown the peacemaker etc.) It will be in reality a comprehensive defeat leaving chaos, which we are largely responsible for, behind. Watch out for Brown trying to spin the retreat under fire from Basra and Southern Iraq as a strategic ‘draw down’ or some such nonsense. The military have described the deaths of the three soldiers erlier today as a sign of ’success on the ground’. What abject lunacy. The coalition have been making enemies of the Shiites in the South by systematic stupidity, including killing and torture of civilians, for years. They are reaping the harvest of this now and are slowly but surely being driven out. They are reduced to one base in Basra which they can hardly defend, the mortar attacks occurring every other day. They are about to abandon that and retreat to the Airport later this year. Brown and his new Foreign Office appointments will try to spin this as a considered decision to withdraw (much media drivel about Brown the peacemaker etc.) It will be in reality a comprehensive defeat leaving chaos, which we are largely responsible for, behind.

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