Tim Collins in the Mirror

The Mirror today carries an article from Colonel Tim Colins whom it describes as the inspirational former Iraq War commander and headlines pull our boys out of Iraq but a closer read of the article reveals that it is much more nuanced. He writes the following - it's now a conflict that, having become involved in, we must stay with. We can't just cut and run. It would be nice to have our troops out tomorrow but if we leave too quickly it would stay with us for generations and create another Lebanon….The only way that can be done is by giving the Iraqis the ability to defend themselves - which is very important. And we need to give the middle-class, middle-of-the-road educated Iraqis the incentive to get involved in their own politics. The danger is, as in Northern Ireland, that the politics is left to the extremists.So we need to make sure there is security for normal Iraqis to become involved in politics without being murdered.