Brits to leave Iraq

Prime Minister Tony Blair will announce Wednesday a timetable for the withdrawal of British troops from Iraq, with 1,500 to return home in several weeks, British media reported.

Blair will also tell the House of Commons during his regular weekly appearance before it that a total of about 3,000 British soldiers will have left southern Iraq by the end of 2007, if the security there is sufficient, the British Broadcasting Corp. and The Sun newspaper said, quoting government officials who weren’t further identified.

And amazingly

Blair and Bush talked by secure video link Tuesday morning, and Bush views Britain’s troop cutbacks as “a sign of success” in Iraq, said U.S. National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe.

Damn right.