The Read International for 12/17/08: Guess What? Britain is Leaving Iraq Faster Than America

(Photo from the BBC)

Though the number of troops they have in Iraq isn't at the level of American forces, nevertheless, Britain is getting out of the country before its Western ally.

Gordon Brown and Iraqi prime minister Nouri Maliki say UK forces will have "completed their tasks" and leave the country by the end of July next year.

And get this from Brown.

"Our troops will be coming home within the next two months [after that]."

Not everyone is officially out at 2011 stage. Everyone is out in two months.

And no, Brown did not get a shoe tossed at him.

And in more opposition to what America is doing, in regards to our focus shifting back to the war in Afghanistan as the primary goal, the UK is not doing the same there.

The head of the UK armed forces says British troops serving in Iraq should not be redeployed to Afghanistan.

The Chief of the Defence Staff, Air Marshal Sir Jock Stirrup, told the BBC there would be a significant reduction in UK personnel in Iraq by next year.

But he warned against US President-elect Barack Obama's idea of sending more troops to Afghanistan, similar to the "surge" in Iraq in 2007.

Foreign Secretary David Miliband said the UK did not want an "unfair burden".

And you can see why they feel like this

There are 4,100 British troops in Iraq, compared to 7,800 in Afghanistan. The government plans to reduce the number of UK personnel in Iraq, while in Afghanistan, British forces are being killed at a faster rate than during the invasion of Iraq.

And get this with OPEC. They announced a record cut in their oil production.

Photo from Bloomberg

The oil producers' cartel Opec has agreed to make a record cut in output, slashing 2.2 million barrels per day (bpd) from its current supply.

Opec has made two other cuts since September, meaning it has cut a total of 4.2 million bpd in four months.

However falling demand amid the economic downturn has meant prices have fallen sharply from highs seen in July.

And who continues to say that the U.S. influence around the world is waning?

Oil prices fell following the agreement, because weekly US inventories figures provided further evidence that motorists were cutting back on their consumption.

Demand for petrol in the four weeks to 12 December was down 2.7% from the same period last year.

US light, sweet crude for January delivery fell $2.07 to $41.53 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

And from Al Jazeera, a big thumbs up and pats on the back needs to be delivered to the government in Bahrain:

The Gulf state of Bahrain has arrested a group of people for planning a terrorist attack in the kingdom timed to coincide with the country's national day celebration, state security officials have said.

"A group of people were arrested early Tuesday," they said in a statement on Wednesday.

"They were planning to detonate locally made explosives containing flammable materials and large amounts of small iron balls," the statement said.