WASHINGTON, Feb. 21 (UPI) -- Britain's decision to take troops out of Iraq will weaken the U.S. position there, an expert said.
"There is no doubt that any British troop reduction that is not coordinated with a U.S. reduction weakens the image of the coalition and further isolates the United States. This is a war of perceptions, as well as military power, and the influence of British cuts will be negative," Anthony H. Cordesman, who holds the Arleigh A. Burke chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think tank, wrote in a new analysis published Wednesday.
"The Shiites will take over, Iranian influence will probably expand, and more Sunnis, Christians, and other minorities will leave," Cordesman wrote. "British action will mean more pressure for federation and separatism, but local power struggles are more likely to be between Shiite factions than anything else."
"The irony is that British force cuts may well have the same de facto effect as the new set of U.S. military operations in Baghdad. If the Shiite militias in Baghdad continue to stand down, and U.S.-led operations continue to focus on local security and defeating the Sunnis, the end result of creating "white spots" in Baghdad will be to solidify Shiite control over most of the city and province, segregate Sunnis, and push Sunnis into divided areas outside the city," Cordesman wrote.
"In effect, both (Britain and the United States) may end up acting to expand Shiite influence in very different ways," he wrote.
