4. British to quit Iraq

This is interesting. Two Super Powers have different views of Iraq. Britain decides to pull out of Iraq its 5500 soldiers, and fought the war in Basra with only 45,000 soldiers. Whereas the United States has a force of 158,000 today! And it fought the war with an invasion force of 250,000. US decides to stay put and help out Iraq. Meanwhile it is reported today that President Bush and his top military advisors are in a surprise visit to Iraq to assess the on ground situation here and to see if troop levels can be reduced. What do you think? Should US stay or leave Iraq?

British soldiers are pulling out of a base at a palace in the southern Iraqi city of Basra, according to a British ministry of defence source.

Sunday's withdrawal is seen as a step towards handing over Basra province to Iraqi control and paving the way for an eventual withdrawal of British forces from Iraq.

"The troops are coming out," the source said. Some 500 of Britain's 5,500 soldiers in Iraq are stationed at Basra Palace, an old palace built for Saddam Hussein in the centre of Iraq's second city.

They are expected to pull back to the vast British airbase on the outskirts of the city. It has long been expected that the British would withdraw its small, vulnerable garrison from the city and consolidate at the airport.

The withdrawal means the end of a British presence in the city for the first time since the US-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein in 2003.

Britain's Sunday Times newspaper has reported that Britain is preparing to hand over control of Basra province to the Iraqi army as early as next month, enabling most of the 5,500 British soldiers to leave Iraq - Al Jazeera.