Britons, Japanese Want Troops Out of Iraq

Some 56 per cent of Britons believe Washington and London were wrong to invade Iraq, with only 35 percent thinking otherwise, the lowest ever level of support for the invasion, according to a poll by the Sunday Times published on Sunday, January 23.

The survey indicated that the 1,805 people polled want British troops to be brought home, with 44% pressing for the process to be concluded before the end of the year.

However, only 5% believe this is likely to happen while 47% say the British troops will likely be in Iraq for many years.

Britain has about 9,000 troops stationed in southern Iraq, forming a small fraction of the US-led occupation forces.

The poll also indicated that the court martial of three British soldiers for abuse of Iraqi prisoners has undermined support for the war.

Britons woke up Wednesday, January 19, to pictures of Iraqis being inhumanely abused by British soldiers.

The images, front-paged by leading British dailies under headlines expressing shame, shock and disbelief, showed naked Iraqi prisoners appearing to be forced to simulate anal and other sexual acts, while in another a soldier had his fist raised above a bound detainee who had a net over his torso.

It came as a grim reminder of the Abu Ghraib scandal which exploded onto the world stage on April 29 after the CBS news network published several graphic photos of Iraqi detainees tortured and sexually abused by American and British jailers.

Japanese Want Troops Out

A similar poll conducted in Japan over the weekend showed that about 55 percent of respondents want troops to be withdrawn from Iraq by March.

The telephone survey, which covered 1,491 households with 1,056 people responding, also indicated that 34.5 percent want the forces to pull out after the Iraqi general elections, scheduled for January 30, reported the Kyodo news agency.

Around 65.2 percent said the troops should withdraw immediately in the event of causalities among the 600 Japanese soldiers in Iraq, up 11.2 points from a similar survey taken February last year.

Some 20.8 percent said the Japanese troops should pull out with the Dutch protectors, who are scheduled to leave by March 15.

Britain has offered to ensure the safety of Japanese troops after the Dutch soldiers leave.

The Guardian reported on Saturday, January 22, that the US and main war ally Britain are engaged in talks on detailed Iraq withdrawal plans at the earliest date possible.