Militias control parts of Basra

The Boston Globe (New York Times News Service) ^ | James Glanz and Michael Kamber

[afortiori]

BAGHDAD - Shi'ite militiamen in Basra openly controlled wide swaths of the city yesterday and staged increasingly bold raids on Iraqi government forces sent in five days ago to wrest control from the gunmen, witnesses said, as Iraqi political leaders grew increasingly critical of the stalled assault.

[Kleebo151]

Notice how in this article there is no mention of casualties. The best way to judge the seriousness of a confrontation is to review how many people have been died/wounded in said battle. But the NYT author is slick and won't tell you this, because very few people have been killed. The purpose of the story is to pretend violence is out of control in the South of Iraq.

[river rat]

Right....they control parts of Basra...

The part they happen to be presently occupying while &%$&$ their pants in anticipation of what is to come...

Once an armed warrior approaches — the “thug” will move on to
“control” a different part of Basra.

[gusopol3]

http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnists/trudy_rubin/20080330_Worldview__Basra_blunder.html

here’s somebody else whose POV was out the window before the ink was dry. Oh, wait! Maybe she meant her own Basra blunder.