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Former British prime minister Tony Blair
"It will be necessary to draw down our current commitment to nearer a third by no later than autumn in order to avoid long-term damage to the armed forces," said the letter, which was previously top secret.
"Scaling down... will limit our contribution thereafter to a maximum of around one brigade, a two-star headquarters and possible a contribution to higher level command and control, air and maritime components and support enablers.
"Our view is that we should probably agree now to tell the US, for planning purposes, that this is the upper limit of our contribution."
Britain's deployment in Iraq peaked at 46,000 troops in March and April 2003 -- when the US-led invasion took place -- and fell to around 18,000 by the end of May, official figures show.
The Iraq war inquiry resumed Tuesday after a break for Britain's general election, which took place in May.
The probe, led by former top civil servant Sir John Chilcot, is due to report by the end of the year.
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"Scaling down... will limit our contribution thereafter to a maximum of around one brigade, a two-star headquarters and possible a contribution to higher level command and control, air and maritime components and support enablers.
"Our view is that we should probably agree now to tell the US, for planning purposes, that this is the upper limit of our contribution."
Britain's deployment in Iraq peaked at 46,000 troops in March and April 2003 -- when the US-led invasion took place -- and fell to around 18,000 by the end of May, official figures show.
The Iraq war inquiry resumed Tuesday after a break for Britain's general election, which took place in May.
The probe, led by former top civil servant Sir John Chilcot, is due to report by the end of the year.
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