Meanwhile in Britain, a top military official has leveled criticism of the Iraq war for the second time in a less than a week. On Tuesday, Brigadier Ed Butler, the outgoing head of British forces in Afghanistan, said the diversion of thousands of troops to Iraq had cost years of progress on the ground in Afghanistan. His comments come days after British military chief Richard Dannat said the foreign occupation of Iraq is worsening the situation in Iraq and should come to an end. On Wednesday, Tony Blair dismissed the mounting calls for a change of course.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair: “It is our policy to withdraw progressively from Iraq as the Iraqi forces are capable of taking on the security task. That is why it is important, when we are able to hand over to them that we do so, otherwise, of course, we are a provocation rather than a help to them.”