London, Dec 01: The US-led coalition in Iraq will not "bombed or intimidated" into a humiliating retreat, British Prime Minister Tony Blair's spokesman said today after one of the bloodiest weekends of the occupation. "The coalition -- be it UK, US, Spain or Japan -- is not going to be bombed or intimidated out of Iraq, and it is going to keep its eye very, very firmly on the prize of a democratic and prosperous country run by the Iraqi people for the Iraqi people," he told reporters.
A series of assaults on the US-led coalition, which includes Britain, claimed the lives of seven Spanish intelligence agents, two Japanese diplomats, a Colombian and two South Koreans as well as two us soldiers over the weekend.
The toll rose yesterday as US troops -- backed by helicopters -- clashed with insurgents in the Iraqi town of Samarra. At least 54 people were killed, including at least eight civilians.
Blair's spokesman said, “There are bound to be setbacks, there are bound to be tragic deaths -- and there are bound to be individuals inside Iraq who wish to turn the clock back and who stand for nothing and simply want to visit murder and mayhem not only on the coalition but on the Iraqi people as well." Bureau Report