Posted on 08/14/2007 4:22:38 PM PDT by humint
The most powerful authority in Basra is not the British garrison where more than 5,000 British troops have withdrawn behind barbed wire and cement blocks. It is the Iranian consulate where major decisions regarding the city are taken. And it is not difficult to see who is in control of the citys thoroughfares and residential quarters. The roundabouts, major squares and even some small streets and neighborhoods are decorated with portraits of Iranian religious and political leaders.
Basra is perhaps Iraqs most important province from which most of the countrys oil production and exports originate. Within Basras provincial borders, the countrys most prolific oil fields are to be found. When bombs fall on the British garrison in the city or a British armored vehicle is knocked out, many of Basra residents celebrate with gunfire and shouts of joy.
The Brits have left a huge power vacuum in southern Iraq in the aftermath of their miscalculated adventure. Their influence does not exceed the few square miles of their only base in Basra. And the militias have rushed to fill in the vacuum, spreading their control over key establishments including oil installations and dividing the city into separate zones of influence.
The countrys three most influential Shiite factions have their own heavily armed militias. Though in bitter rivalry, they are almost unanimous in their tactics to inflict a humiliating defeat on Britain by forcing it to withdraw its troops. Many of Basra intellectuals and members of its once thriving religious minorities such as Christians and Mandeans have fled the city. The militias have their own rules and systems of governing which they impose on their subjects and areas. Hameed Hussain who fled the city recently says the Iraqi police and army are not in control of the city. Practically, the militias have the city under their sway.
An oil engineer, Ali Hatroush, who also fled the city in the past few weeks, says the British troops no longer have the power or capacity to to rein in the militias.
The fundamentalists are the ones who run the city. They have devised their own means and ways of how to control the people and the resources and liquidate those opposing them, he said.
Abdulkareem Saleh, who used to work at Basra port, said he was sad to see how young people were lured to join the political factions advocating militancy. The factions rely on religious slogans and high-ranking clergy to deceive the population. It is really disappointing to see how young Iraqis are being coaxed to join their murderous militias, he said.
The rival factions are represented in the government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. Nonetheless they are the ones undermining official authority. For example, the Fadhila party which controls the administrations has 15 deputies in the parliament but has refused to disband its militias. Other groups like the Sadr bloc has 30 deputies and seven ministers in the cabinet but has strongly rejected calls to disarm its powerful military wing, the Mahdi Army. The other influential group the Supreme Council, a major partner in Malikis coalition government, is reported to have one the most heavily armed militias in the country.
President Saddam Husseins regime has said the camp, part of a larger military reservation in a bend of the Tigris River, was used for anti-terrorism training for Iraqi special forces.
Just ask ‘Bagdad Bob’?
I was among the first on this site to champion for it here in 1998.
Alan Keyes won every debate, why didn’t you champion for a winner?
I posted that the reaction of this country should be that of a wounded grizzly
And that’s why the polls against the war are so high, folks like you and me are lumped in with the Sheehans, Reids and Pelosi’s to inflate the dissatisfied numbers.
Bush has saved his legacy by not having mass civilian casualties, may end up with more allies to look on the bright side.
I’ll ping jveritas, a FReeper who has been translating captured documents that prove saddam was aligned with al qaeda long ago. You will probably just ignore him.
LLS
KDD Below are captured Iraqi documents that show Saddam very strong relation to terrorism including meeting with Bin Laden, Ayman Al Zawahiri and training for foreign Arab terrorists who became the heart of the terrorist insurgency that has caused untold death and destruction since 2003. Saddam regime was a premier terrorist regime and after 9/11 it should have been removed and thanks to President Bush and our troops who made this possible
Saddam Regime Document: Iraqi Intelligence met with Bin Laden in 1995 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1600579/posts
Captured Al Qaeda Document Shows Bin Laden Deputy Aymen Al Zawahiri Visited Iraq http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1825605/posts
Saddam Regime Document Dated May 1999 Reveals Plans for Terrorist Attacks in Europe http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1822592/posts
Document: Zarqawi in Iraq Long Before the War Started http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1598259/posts
Document: Saddam Regime Training and Using Foreign Arab Terrorists As Suicide Bombers. http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1600367/posts
2003 Document: Saddam Ordered To Treat The Arab Feedayeen Terrorists The Same As Iraqi Soldiers http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1618519/posts
Document: Iraqi Intelligence To Train Arab Feedayeen Terrorists In the Year 2000 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1617431/posts
March 2001 Document: Saddam Regime Recruits Suicide Terrorists to Hit US Interests http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1610012/posts
2003 Document: Hundreds of Palestinian Terrorists to Join Saddam And Fight US Troops http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1726660/posts
Document: Afghani Taliban Consul Spoke of a Relationship Between Iraq and Bin Laden http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1597459/posts
March 2002 Document: Saddam Ordered 25,000 Dollars for Each Suicide Terrorist Against Israel http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1602317/posts
2003 Document: Iraqi Intelligence Asks Hamas To Conduct Terrorist Attacks Against The US. http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1607915/posts
I thought we had a strict rule on FR not to hurt the feelings of Kos Kids.
Over the weekend, I was in a pub and met some Indian American folks. A discussion came up about Iraq and it wasn’t two seconds before one of them declared Iraq had nothing to do with terrorism.
Saddam Hussein would be so proud. Let me tell you something about the Third World. You can be born here but the Third World mentality follows you it would appear. At the end one guy was coming back to complain about Pakistan’s relationship with the US.
They complained the US was too close to Pakistan. I cited the nuclear agreement on giving technology to India. One guy claimed it was corporate and the other guy said not much had been done.
They seemed to have inherited their hatred of Pakistan from their families. And I found it quite amusing how lucky we are here.
We don’t carry that messed up baggage here. Unless of course you are a Kos Kid. Then you buy into the whole peace, land and bread spiel in all its forms and guises.
LOL. Good find
Well,I think the British media were. The soldiers were too busy doing their job.
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