Letters From A Tory Daily views on British politics and the Conservative Party from a centre-right thinker who writes letters on his blog to politicians, journalists and many others.

Dear Des Browne,

I know that you saw it – for a fleeting moment, the withdrawal of British troops from Basra after four and a half years gave you the chance to hope that the grass may be greener.  From what I read this morning, it seems that what you have left behind could turn out to be just as tragic as the chaos that you helped create.

As in Afghanistan, local militias in Iraq have become increasing powerful in bringing peace to any given area and they have also retained the ability to destroy peace whenever they see fit.   For Major General Jalil Khalaf, the new police commander in Basra, to say “[British forces] left me militia, they left me gangsters, and they left me all the troubles in the world” is deeply concerning.  I know that Basra was never going to a safe haven for anyone after such a long period of turmoil and destruction, but for women to be murdered for being ‘unislamic’ with alarming frequency and for British forces to unintentionally arm the militias with weapons supposed to bring peace to Basra fills me with a sense of dread.

I don’t know how this will all end, Mr Browne.  All I know is that the Labour government is desperate for some good news and I sincerely hope that you don’t try to milk the situation, as I feel that it may come back to haunt you.

Yours sincerely,

A.Tory