Private pessimism on Iraq grows (BBC)

In a confidential memo, the outgoing UK ambassador in Iraq, William Patey, has warned that civil war is a more likely outcome in Iraq than democracy. The BBC's defence correspondent Paul Wood assesses the ambassador's remarks and the current situation in Baghdad.

Waiting for an American military helicopter, I got chatting to the man next to me. His business card said he was an adviser on "strategic message" for the coalition.

"Casey won't get out in front and sell this war," he told me, "because he doesn't want to go down in history as another Westmoreland."
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As a private comment from one of the officials in charge of the image of this war, no less, it was highly revealing. Similarly revealing was the leak two months ago of a confidential memo from the US ambassador in Iraq.
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Now the British government's confidential briefings on Iraq have been leaked too - and they are markedly at odds with the official line.
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more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5242696.stm