Posted on 04/02/2003 10:13:40 AM PST by Oldeconomybuyer
OUTSKIRTS OF BASRA, Iraq, April 2 (Reuters) - A prolonged siege of Basra has left some Iraqis wondering how U.S. and British troops will topple President Saddam Hussein if they are already bogged down by a handful of militiamen in the south.
"I don't understand why they don't just storm the city. Ten tanks can do the job. What are they waiting for?" asked an Iraqi man, standing near the Saddam River outside the city of Basra.
British forces have besieged Basra, a city of 1.5 million people 550 km (340 miles) southeast of Baghdad, since reaching its outskirts at the start of the 14-day-old war to oust Saddam.
Stiff Iraqi resistance there has confounded British and U.S. hopes that the Shi'ite people of southern Iraq would repeat their 1991 revolt against Saddam's largely Sunni government. The U.S. did nothing to intervene when Saddam crushed the uprising.
Paramilitaries from Saddam's Baath party armed with rifles and rocket-propelled grenades have managed to stymie the world's most powerful armies at Basra and other southern flashpoints.
British troops control the highways around Basra but have yet to capture key segments of the city -- even after daily shelling of militia strongholds. Each day, British tanks inch forward, wary of the Iraqi fighters who fire mortars at their position from an abandoned factory in Basra.
The slow advance has left many in the city pessimistic about the chances of ending decades of rule by the Baath party, which persecuted Iraq's Shi'ite majority that dominates the south.
And any trust they may have had in the United States and Britain is eroding.
"We know why the Americans are really here. They don't want to liberate us. Saddam will sell them oil and then they will leave. Then Saddam will come back and break our necks," said an Iraqi truck driver.
TORTURE AND FEAR
American abandonment is a big theme in southern Iraq.
"This is what we are scared of. In 1991 they blindfolded people and then shot them in the streets during the uprising. They left the corpses so the dogs could eat them," said one Iraqi man on condition of anonymity.
"I spent time in jail and was tortured. We had to give our home and lots of our belongings to the Baath party so I could be free. Now we wonder why the Americans and British don't just attack Basra. They could leave again."
Basra residents said Baath party loyalists were forcing Iraqis to fight against the U.S.-led invasion.
"They come to our homes and tell us to fight. They threaten to take our wives away if we say no," said Ali Qadeel.
British shells have destroyed the intelligence services building, the governorate building and other government sites in Basra, Iraqis said.
But they said U.S. and British firepower has failed to inflict heavy casualties on pro-Saddam fighters. It has only angered Iraqis who say shells are landing in their neighbourhoods.
"What is this freedom the Americans were talking about? The only freedom they are giving us can be found on the tip of a rocket," said a worker at the Basra refinery.
Some conclude that Basra will fall only if Saddam is toppled in Baghdad. Many even have their doubts about that.
"There is no way anyone in Basra is going to rise up against the Baath with the war moving so slowly. Who is going to protect us if the Americans decide to leave again?" said Mohammed.
"Nobody is convinced the Americans will stay," he said. "Saddam will come back."
Some conclude that Basra will fall only if Saddam is toppled in Baghdad. Many even have their doubts about that.
So we get "many" out of a sample size of ? in a city of 1.5 million.
I would bet the 4'th Mech joins the brits and they go in with a huge force..
The 4th Division is getting ready .........
It stands to reason that if Saddam is Purina Worm Chow those in charge of House Hussein will have kept his death a secret in order to keep the fear of Saddam alive. The location of Saddam's remains may be the must guarded secret on the planet.
Because we, unlike the psycho phook who's been running the joint, would prefer not to kill your ass. Hard as it may be to believe, not all governments/military forces are completely indifferent to civilian casualties.
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