Posted on 03/28/2008 12:29:32 PM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach
The battle for Basra now raging on the streets of Iraq’s second city shows every sign of turning into a nightmare for the dwindling British forces based near by.
For months Britain has been quietly reducing its presence in Iraq with the intention of pulling out altogether. First it withdrew last September from the Basra Palace base in the city centre and moved its forces to the airport. Then it changed its tactical role to “overwatch”, a vague term for supporting the Iraqi security forces nominally in control of the port city.
The intention was to withdraw British forces from frontline duties and concentrate on training Iraqis and offering support when needed. But the problem from the outset has been the failure of the Iraqi army and police to take control of the city, a mission that British troops, with the advantage of modern equipment and training, had failed to do during their four years in southern Iraq. Instead the Shia Muslim militias — the Mahdi Army loyal to Moqtadr al-Sadr, the Badr Brigades of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq and the smaller Fadillah Party — effectively took over the streets.
The three groups were in open contest for control of the city. The battle has little to do with ideology but everything to do with economics. Basra is the hub of Iraq’s valuable oil industry and the militias are making millions by taking their cut of the exports.
The problem now facing the British is how to respond to the fast-changing situation.
Nuri al-Maliki, the Iraqi Prime Minister, who flew to Basra to take personal control, said that his forces would fight “to the end” against the militias. Unfortunately for him, the end may come sooner than he expected. The Iraqi Army contingent of 30,000 troops has failed to dislodge the Mahdi Army, there are widespread reports of defections from the police to the militias and there are clear signs that the operation could backfire badly.
British forces, who can probably cobble together an armoured battle group of a few hundred soldiers, may well be asked to intervene should the Iraqi offensive fail. If that happens, any hope of the withdrawal promised by Gordon Brown last year of another 1,500 British troops this spring will have to be shelved until Basra can be stabilised.
It may even be necessary to reinforce the British contingent with more combat troops, something that the Ministry of Defence can ill afford as it prepares for the fighting season in Afghanistan.
The only other option would be for Britain to admit finally that it has lost the fight in southern Iraq. That would mean an ignominious withdrawal and handing over control of Basra to the Americans, who grudgingly would have to take over responsibility for the south. As American officers and officials have privately made clear, much of today’s problems in Basra can be traced back to Britain’s failure to commit the forces necessary to control Basra and southern Iraq in general.
Whereas President Bush’s “surge” tactic of sending 30,000 reinforcements to central Iraq has succeeded in bringing down the level of violence in Baghdad and Anbar province, the Americans believe that the gradual withdrawal of British troops from the south has had the opposite effect, a point that Mr al-Maliki and his soldiers are discovering to their cost on the streets of Basra today.
fyi
If Hillary or Obama is our next President, the U.S.A. will be the next great democracy to be intimidated by political terrorists.
Areas of Baghdad fall to militias as Iraqi Army falters in Basra
I don’t see how the Brits have enough combat troops left to do much here. Looks like the US will have to help the Iraqis clean up the mess.
more damning evidence it seems...
The fact that whole districts of Baghdad and formerly controlled US towns in South-Central Iraq have been falling under Shiite militia control in recent days suggests that the US has not been any more successful in persuading Shiite people to turn away from militia allegiances than Britain.
Bomb attack hit crucial Iraqi pipeline
*************************EXCERPT***********************
March 27, 2008
The Zubair-1 pipeline attacked earlier today is used to transport crude oil from fields in Southern Iraq to the country's two main export terminals in the Gulf at al-Umaiya and Basra.
The attack is expected to cut oil exports from the Basra region - which were around 1.54 million barrels per day in February - by roughly one third until the pipeline can be repaired.
The incident helped lift global crude prices close to highs of nearly $107 per barrel in London trading this morning.
Iraq's total average production for February was 2.4 million barrels per day - roughly 80 per cent of which was accounted for by fields in the the Basra region.
Basra’s Rumaila South and North oil fields together produce around 1.3 million barrels per day. Several smaller fields in the region including Suba, Luhais, West Qurna and Zubair, account for most of the rest of the region’s output.
Iraq’s Southern Oil Company (SOC) operates the fields and has its headquarters in Basra. One of Iraq's three big oil refineries, the Shuaiba refinery, is also in Basra. It has a capacity of 160,000 barrels a day but is currently functioning below capacity.
Iraq’s fragile economy relies heavily on oil exports to help fund reconstruction efforts.
Really? As reported by whom?
Iran is behind the Shia militia. You can bet their signature is on all the arms and support, not to mention insurgents joining their brigade.
Ahmadinejad’s latest visit was probably aimed at just that. And America has already begun drawing down our troops in a big hurry to prove the surge is working.
Now the American public will look at this as a waste of time and troops during an election year. This is not looking like what we have been hoping for.
As is the fact that Sadr City, Hilla et al (all under US control) have had whole areas seized by Shiite militias in recent days...
Wow.
Here is an explicit empirical comparison of Bush’s war policy versus his reactionary opponents: Basra versus Bagdad.
Despite the powerfully positive results of Bush’s vision, the public continues to prefer failed policies— sad.
dude, seriously give it up - the evidence is overhwelming.
Actually, what it means is that the media has been successful in getting enough people to believe that hyperbolic BS.
Evidence of what? Maliki has decided to strengthen the hand of his particular Shiite governemnt before the October elections by leading a crackdown in Basra. The violence in recent days has exposed that even in post-surge Baghdad, Shiite gunmen can just walk onto the streets and demand Iraqi government forces go away. They haven’t been disarmed. US or formerly US controlled areas in Iraq have hd whole districts taken over by the Shiite militias. How then is it just to criticize the existance of Shiite militias in Basra as unique when they appear just as stronge elsewhere?
{Shaking head...laughing...} Zrabbat biha!
Hah! I KNEW you’d get a kick out of that quote:)
Sorry, I should have given a source. Here’s one I’ve found:
“Iraq’s government imposed a three-day, 24-hour curfew in Baghdad last night as it struggled to prevent a slide towards civil war with supporters of the radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr....In the town of Kut, American forces were drawn into the fighting as they joined the Iraqi army in operations to take back territory seized by Sadr’s supporters. The fighting also spread to Hilla, south of Baghdad.”
Please don’t get me wrong. I think US forces have done a superb job in Iraq. My point is just that Shiite in-fighting and militia violence appears to be deeply rooted wherever the Shiite people are in Iraq (not just in Basra).
Sorry, the source link is:http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2008/03/28/wirq128.xml
I’m not sure that the reports from the Media are all that reliable....I would tend to believe someone without the ?Agenda that the Media Reporters carry....
I nderstand that you are in Iraq at the moment? My point was that Shiite militiamen have come out in force in these locations in recent days, temporarily overwhelming local security forces (not that these areas have become Shiite militia stronghold). 44 people have been reported killed in Kut alone. If this info is wrong, please correct me.
Agreed. Please don’t think that I’m criticizing US forces etc in Iraq. I’m not and have nothing but respect for them. My sole point is that Shiite militias have shown ALL OVER Iraq in recent days that they have not been disarmed or tied to the same vision of a new Iraq as Maliki/the Central Government.
The Los Angeles Times this morning has a story of violence in LA...I'll see if I can get a link up here....
Living with staggering violence in South L.A.
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By Scott Gold, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
March 28, 2008
"All the stuff that's hiding," he called over his shoulder, "it'll all come out."
He was right. Before long, a pile of thin blankets atop an abandoned couch began to stir. A homeless man, 83 years old, wiped the sleep from his filthy face, stretched his good arm and rubbed his shrunken, arthritic one. He hauled himself over a rusty fence to start his day, his sandals crunching on a bed of cheap discarded lighters, their silver tops popped off so they could be used for smoking crack.
The hair stylist arrived at work, pleasantly surprised that gangs had not, as they do two or three times a week, tagged the white walls of her salon with black paint. The pastor sprinkled a rack of ribs with paprika; he'd sell them at cost a few hours later, hoping to help a few hungry people get at least one solid meal that day. Two men with mean eyes stepped behind a dumpster, shot up, urinated and emerged again, one of them cursing madly.
It has been a month and a day since a gunman opened fire on two men stepping off a bus at the corner of Central and Vernon avenues. He missed his targets, as far as investigators can determine, but hit eight other people, all innocents. They included five kids, students walking home from George Washington Carver Middle School. Police have charged Billy Ray Hines, 24, with the crime.
US attacks Shiite targets (fires Hellfire missile in the main Shiite stronghold in Baghdad)
*******************EXCERPT INTRO*****************
BAGHDAD - U.S. forces stepped deeper Friday into the Iraqi government's fight to cripple Shiite militias, launching airstrikes in the southern city of Basra and firing a Hellfire missile in the main Shiite stronghold in Baghdad.
The American support occurred as Iraqi troops struggled against strong resistance in Basra and retaliation elsewhere in Shiite areas — including more salvos of rockets or mortars into the U.S.-protected Green Zone in Baghdad.
It was the first time American jets have been called to attack militia positions since Iraqi ground forces launched an operation Tuesday to clear Basra of the armed groups that have effectively ruled the streets of the country's second-largest city for nearly three years.
One militia barrage slammed into the headquarters of the Basra police command late Friday, triggering a huge fire and explosions when one of the rounds struck a gasoline tanker, police officials said.
Earlier Friday, U.S. jets struck a building housing militia fighters and blasted a mortar team that was firing on Iraqi forces, British military spokesman Maj. Tim Holloway said without further details.
Many of those groups are believed to receive weapons, money and training from nearby Iran, the world's most populous Shiite nation.
ROFL!...too damn true...
Hey, that’s what happens when you leave the wogs to their own devices - they just revert to type. ;-)
They have most definitely come out in force, led and exhorted by Iran of course, but they have not seized any cities. I did hear that Reuters or some lame organization like that was touting such garbage earlier. I asked a couple of Iraqis to check their sources and they said nothing of the kind has happened.
That being said, yes, it has been absolutely nuts around central Baghdad (the only area I can give eyewitness reports on.) Nobody has lost control of it, but the Iranian-backed militias are most certainly creating a level of mayhem here I have not seen here since 2004.
We had relative peace for seven months here. However, I knew the only way to obtain lasting peace was to deal with the Iran problem, one way or another. It appears that the time has come to address Iran's constant interference in Iraq.
This is no civil war. This is a proxy war with Iran.
I’m grateful for all they did, but I resented the patronizing that came with it. And they eventually grew weary of it. Clearly we need to hope our best ally isn’t afraid to invest more of itself and for themselves to assure victory in the war against these terrorists.
Thanks for all the info. I hope the situation stabilises soon. Stay safe mate.
Very true. I remember the downing of a single US Stealth Fighter over Serbia in 1999 was taken by the media to signal that the mission there was in grave peril.
British FR’s have NO problem with legitimate criticism of British ops in Iraq.
What does increasingly rankle us is the criticism comes from some here and in America with an attitude as if American ops in Iraq havent had their fair share of mistakes and blunders.
Also, remember the ‘patronising’ crap came from the UK media,not the British squaddie.
Thanks for all the links. Very interesting info.
>whole areas seized by Shiite militias in recent days...
You have a problem with reality.
Stop reading those UK rags.
I take no pride in pointing out errors my friend. Especially from a country that I consider one of three countries that the US could count on in a moment’s notice. But I cannot hide my disappointment at a weak horse strategy that was doomed to failure.
Have you been seized?
Use the secret hand signal if they’re making you talk.
All hail our new ant overlords.
(Frint page news, “Iraq Is Lost” until the truth smacks the libs in the face, then the retraction will be on page 39 F in microscopic type.)
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