Wednesday, August 08, 2007

A sign of things to come

BRITISH 'DEFEATED IN BASRA'

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BRITAIN’S last remaining troops in Basra’s beleaguered garrison are being “surrounded like cowboys and indians”, it is claimed today.

The damning assessment comes from a senior US intelligence official in Baghdad who has complained that British troops have been pulled out too quickly.

The remaining 500 soldiers are unable to cope with the escalating violence that is spiralling out of control in the southern Iraq city, he said.

The source said despite early hopes for the region “it’s hard now to paint Basra as a success story”. He added: “The British have basically been defeated in the south.”

And he said troops stationed in Basra Palace are now surrounded by three major Shia militia groups.

The official said the city is plagued by “political assassinations, tribal vendettas and neighbourhood vigilantism”.
Added to this is a rise of “criminal mafias that increasingly intermingle with political actors”.

The views, published in the Washington Post, come as a British soldier became the latest casualty to die fighting in the city. The Ministry of Defence said he was gunned down in a battle to stop a series of mortar attacks.

He was serving with the 2nd Battalion, The Royal Welsh, and his name will be released today.

Labour MP Kevan Jones, who sits on the Commons defence committee, said yesterday that the time for using troops in Basra is over.

“The solutions must now be political,” he said.

Original article posted here.

1 comment:

Ducky's here said...

What solution?

The Kurds are going to continue as a quasi independent entity unless the Turks decide to rough them up.

The south is going to continue warring between factions who support Iran and those who don't.

The center will continue to be an absolute hell hole.

The Iraqi government will split to their lake front homes in Geneva.

It's over.