by RAY FLEMING
PRESIDENTS and prime ministers with armed forces engaged in dangerous work in distant parts need to show their faces to the troops every so often. It is true that the announcement of further reductions in the British presence in Iraq made yesterday by Mr Brown during his visit to Iraq could just as well have been made in Whitehall. But that is not the point. Parliament reassembles next week and even if there is no election Mr Brown's diary will be very full indeed until Christmas. So he was right to take the chance to visit Basra even if the Conservative party, which always claims that it supports the government over Iraq, tried to dismiss his visit as a photo opportunity designed to take attention away from its conference.
Those who predicted that Britain's withdrawal from the centre of Basra last month would lead to unrest and violence have so far been proved wrong and this will encourage the idea that further reductions should be made. However, what is now the main task of training Iraqi security forces will continue for a long time and, in any case, it would be irresponsible to reduce Britain's presence below a point at which it can be called on in the event of a recurrence of violence in Basra and its surrounding provinces. Home for Christmas is a cliche of military life. But will they really be home, and for how long? Commanders in Afghanistan are calling for reinforcements there.