On the withdrawal from Basra

With the beginning of the end as far as British troops withdrawing from Iraq,what are the papers saying.

Well the Indepedent,a critic of the war from day 1 says 'We are not handing over a land of milk and honey'

This was not a victory, certainly not for the British, but not for the Iraqis either. For security reasons, the ceremony took place not in the city of Basra proper, but at the airport encampment to which the British had withdrawn three months earlier. The control that the British were handing over to the Iraqis was a flattering way to describe a security muddle contested by rival militias

All the troubles in the world is the Guardian's leader noting that

Victory has been declared before in Iraq. Notoriously, George Bush landed on the deck of an aircraft carrier six weeks after the opening air strike on Baghdad and announced the end of major combat operations. Behind him, a banner declared "Mission Accomplished". That was in May 2003. Up to 85,000 Iraqi deaths, nearly 4,000 US deaths, and 174 British deaths later, Iraq's national security adviser Dr Mowaffak al-Rubaie was at it again. He said yesterday that Britain's handover of Basra to Iraqi forces was a historic day that marked a victory for Iraq.

Basra is first step to leaving Iraq altogether says the Telegraph

the only losers are the terrorists who have claimed to be resisting an "occupation", and who will find it much harder to justify shooting at the representatives of their own democratic government. but noting

This is not to say that Basra is on the way to becoming a second Basingstoke. The region remains unsettled.

Finally the Mirror,another that was against the war says Beginning of the end

As our troops shelter in their heavily fortified airport base, it reminds us what a catastrophic error the invasion was.