British troops victoriously handed over Basra a southern Iraqi province to Iraqi muslim. now muslim will protect the remaining soldeirs until they return back to their home.
British acheivment in Iraq: Lost hundreds of lives of men and women in uniform thousands more injured most of them critically.
Scottish National Party defence spokesman Angus Robertson said the handover served as a reminder of the "dreadful cost and calamity" of what he called "Blair and Brown's misguided mission".
The survey for BBC Newsnight of nearly 1,000 people also suggests that 56% believe their presence has increased the overall level of militia violence.
Two-thirds think security will improve when the British hand back control of the province to Iraqi forces on Sunday.
"We are winning the battles and not the war, in my view," Fitzgibbon told the newspaper. "We have been very successful in clearing areas of the Taliban, but it's having no real strategic effect."
U.S. intelligence concluded early this year that al Qaeda has carved a new safe haven since the overthrow of its Taliban hosts after the September 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington. The news comes as officials tout progress in Iraq, saying the country is experiencing its most significant dip in violence since the first year of the invasion. On Sunday, Lt. Gen. Ray Odierno, the second-ranking U.S. general in Iraq, told The Associated Press that fewer weapons and fighters entered Iraq from Iran and Syria ov
