NBC: Blair Promises UK Won't Cut and Run

[Hissyspit]

Blair promises U.K. won't cut and run
Commitment to Iraq steadfast despite mounting pressure

By Mark Potter
Correspondent
NBC News
Updated: 12:47 p.m. ET Jan. 28, 2005


LONDON - As Iraqis prepare to vote Sunday, the British government has reaffirmed its commitment to the war by flying in more troops.

The recent arrival of some 400 reinforcements has raised the number of British military personnel serving in Iraq to 8,700, according to the Ministry of Defense.

During a recent visit with some of those troops, Prime Minister Tony Blair said, "The British aren't a nation of quitters." Of British involvement in the conflict, he said, "We did the right thing."

After a newspaper report suggested Blair might be pressuring the United States to set a timetable for removing coalition troops from Iraq, a spokesman denied it. "‘We will not cut and run’ is what the prime minister said in April and that remains our position."


URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6876944/