The decision of the Iraqi parliament to reject the British troops permission to stay beyond the mandate has been termed as a minor hiccup which will be resolved. Gordon Brown was of the notion that the Iraqi Prime Minister had given him his word regarding the issue. It seems highly unlikely that the British troops would be able to leave before the 31st of December.

The agreement that was settled between Baghdad and London determined that British troops would end all combat operations by 31 May and leave by 31 July. Four hundred British troops would be left behind for the purpose of providing training to the Iraqi navy.

The British soldiers faced uncertainty regarding the nature of the legal coverage that they would be provided during their prolonged stay in Iraq. This was because the Iraqi government had rejected the agreement twice. On a separate note Washington and Iraq have agreed on letting the US troops stay in Iraq till 2011.

The Iraqi government is stressing on the fact that a resolution needs to be passed concerning the faith of the foreign troops in the country before the year end. The British and Australian forces are at the forefront of this problem as they want parliamentary cover for their forces.

There have been conflicting reports regarding the proposal made by the British government to the Iraqi government. The Sunni Arab bloc spokesman said that the government is expected to accept the agreement whereas the Shia bloc has claimed that the government is likely to stay adamant on its rejection. The uncertainty within the ruling coalition of Iraq over the agreement is what has caused Hutton to term the rejection of the agreement as a minor hiccup.

The Prime Minister is being called upon from the entire political divide to look into the details of Britain’s involvement in the war and the impact that it has had on the country’s economy. Opposition parties are of the opinion that Gordon Brown will be in no hurry to start the inquiry which has already been delayed for quite some time. The Prime Minister is expected to make a statement on the country’s involvement in the Iraq war to the parliament today.

The total cost of involvement in the Iraq war has cost the British a staggering ?7.836bn since 2003 as calculated by the Ministry of Defense. This works out to almost ?3.7m a day. Critics have calculated that the same amount of money could have been used to fund more than 25,200 teachers for a ten year period along with which 107 new hospitals could also have been set up. The final cost is further expected to rise before the last of the 4100 soldiers are pulled out by July.

Although the above mentioned estimated cost provide more than enough justification to question the country’s involvement in the war, some experts believe that the estimated cost is still much lower than the actual costs that Britain has incurred during the war.

This is because the total estimated costs calculated by the Ministry of Defence do not include the payments that have been made to the families of the 178 soldiers that lost their lives along with the money spent on the treatment of those injured in Iraq.

Mr. Brown has brushed aside the appeal for an in depth inquiry into the costs of the war until when “the time is right” despite the mounting pressure.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown lays a wreath at the Basra Airbase war memorial in southern Iraq