Few things touch the hearts of British voters as much as the fate of their fighting men under fire. Small wonder, then, that Gordon Brown's abortive pre-election manoeuvrings included a visit to the troops in Iraq, and the promise that 1,000 of them would be home by Christmas. His figures were distorted (the departure of 500 troops had already been announced), and his timing seen as cynical. The prime minister gave Parliament a signal this week that all British forces could be out of Basra by Christmas next year—in time, perhaps, for him to fight an election free of the political burden of an unpopular war.

　　Britain is on a “glide path” out of Iraq, a senior official said on October 9th, with “no guarantee that [the troops] will be there beyond 2008”.

　　British forces at Basra's airport will be roughly halved by next spring, to around 2,500 soldiers (plus about 500 “elsewhere in the region”—ie, Kuwait), Mr Brown said on October 8th. A decision on how long the rest should stay will be taken then. The precise rate of departure will depend on “conditions on the ground”, he said. The fact that he has had to offer money and visas to resettle Iraqis working for the British lest they be killed as collaborators is one sign that “conditions” may be less than benign. The three rockets fired at the British military base at Basra airport within an hour of his statement are another. These reportedly sent servicemen running for cover and the most senior British officer in Basra diving under his desk.

双语天下：戈登·布朗的裁军政治
　　对于英国选民来说，没有什么事能比那些身处战火之中的作战人员的命运更能触动他们的心。戈登·布朗在选举前对驻伊部队的访问和承诺他们中的1000人将在圣诞节回家虽然未兑现，但也算是一个小小的奇迹。布朗所说的数字被歪曲了，(已经宣布了500名士兵将撤离)而布朗所制定的时间表被认为是玩世不恭的。这位首相本周给议会一个信号：所有的英国军队有可能在明年圣诞节全部撤离巴士拉。按时撤离也许是为了让他在选战中可以甩掉一场不得人心的战争的政治包袱。

　　10月9日，一位高级官员说，英国正在“从伊拉克开溜，不能保证2008年以后还有军队在伊拉克”。

　　布朗先生10月8日说，到明年春天，英国驻巴士拉机场的部队大约会减少一半至约2500名士兵左右(加上约500名驻其他地方的士兵，如科威特)。到那时才会决定剩余的部队还会呆多久。他说，撤退的准确速度将取决于“地面上的状况”。他不得不给为英军工作的伊拉克人提供金钱并给他们签证以重新安置他们，以免他们因和英国人合作而遭杀害这一事实说明“状况”并不妙。在他发表了这番言论后一个小时内，三枚火箭攻击了英军在巴士拉机场的基地，这是“状况”不妙的又一证明。据报道，火箭的攻击使得军人冲入掩体，最高军事长官钻入了桌子底下。