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Topic: "The British have basically been defeated in the south,": Basra in chaos
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BetterRed
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 11865
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posted 07 August 2007 08:29 PM
quote: As British Leave, Basra Deteriorates Violence Rises in Shiite City Once Called a Success StoryBy Karen DeYoung and Thomas E. Ricks Washington Post Staff Writers Tuesday, August 7, 2007; A01 As British forces pull back from Basra in southern Iraq, Shiite militias there have escalated a violent battle against each other for political supremacy and control over oil resources, deepening concerns among some U.S. officials in Baghdad that elements of Iraq's Shiite-dominated national government will turn on one another once U.S. troops begin to draw down.
Three major Shiite political groups are locked in a bloody conflict that has left the city in the hands of militias and criminal gangs, whose control extends to municipal offices and neighborhood streets. The city is plagued by "the systematic misuse of official institutions, political assassinations, tribal vendettas, neighborhood vigilantism and enforcement of social mores, together with the rise of criminal mafias that increasingly intermingle with political actors," a recent report by the International Crisis Group said.
As British leave, Basra deteriorates
From: They change the course of history, everyday ppl like you and me | Registered: Jan 2006
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Cueball
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 4790
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posted 07 August 2007 08:38 PM
I see they have succeeded in bringing Washington style democratic values to the people of Basra finally. A big success. quote: The city is plagued by "the systematic misuse of official institutions, political assassinations, tribal vendettas, neighborhood vigilantism and enforcement of social mores, together with the rise of criminal mafias that increasingly intermingle with political actors," a recent report by the International Crisis Group said.
quote: The mission, he said, was simply to "get the place and the people to a state where Iraqis could run this part of the country, if they chose to."
Is that a typo? Should it not say Iranians? [ 07 August 2007: Message edited by: Cueball ]
From: Out from under the bridge and out for a stroll | Registered: Dec 2003
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John K
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 3407
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posted 09 August 2007 09:15 AM
Interesting article in the Guardian on the same topic: quote: Eventually, the US will have to negotiate its way outExpectations of an early withdrawal from Iraq are premature. Only broader resistance is likely to break the American grip Seumas Milne Thursday August 9, 2007 ....What is clear is that the US has already suffered a strategic defeat in Iraq. A flagrant act of aggression intended to be a demonstration of untrammelled US imperial power to impose its will on the heart of the oil-producing Arab and Muslim world has instead demonstrated a fatal vulnerability to "asymmetric warfare". It's also true that, as a senior US intelligence officer told the Washington Post this week, "the British have basically been defeated in the south". Far from keeping rival militia from each other's throats, over 80% of violent attacks in the area are directed against British troops.
Rest of the articleDon't think Seumas is going to be put on Dick Cheney's Christmas card list.
From: Edmonton | Registered: Nov 2002
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