Looters Raid Military Camp After British Handover to Iraqis

[Dems Will Win]

This is starting to look like Vietnam in 1974 and '75. Just as the South Vietnamese were not ready, the Iraqis are not ready--it's even more of a joke!

BY OLIVER POOLE - The Daily Telegraph
August 23, 2006

BASRA, Iraq — The first British camp to be handed to the Iraqis was looted almost bare within days of the army's departure.

The transfer last month was widely heralded as a signal that Iraq would soon be ready to run itself.

A British soldier said that, as the last men drove away, they saw pick-up trucks being filled with equipment worth tens of thousands of pounds.

Most items that could be removed were taken, including air-conditioning units, water-filtration systems, chairs, bedding, and kitchen utensils. When the commander of British forces in southeast Iraq, Brigadier James Everard, discussed the matter with the province's governor, he was told that the camp had "largely gone."

Military sources believe off-duty Iraqi soldiers and government officials did much of the looting.

British officers privately say they blame the governor for much of the looting and believe some of the air-conditioning units are now in his private office.

The Iraqi and British governments had described the transfer of Camp Smitty on July 30, a base outside the southern city of Samawah, as a key step in handing control of security back to Iraqis.

But the looting casts doubt on official insistence that coalition troops are only withdrawing when local authorities are ready to assume their responsibilities.

...

Defense Secretary Des Browne said it was a step toward "building a stable and democratic future for their country." The Iraqi prime minister, who attended a handover ceremony in Samawah, had called it a "great national day."

The camp, which British troops had shared with an Australian contingent, had been intended for use as an Iraqi army base.

A nearby base used by a Japanese contingent was also ransacked, with townspeople from Samawah joining in.

Locals said roadside markets appeared in the following days selling computers, electrical kits, air-conditioning units, and other equipment from both camps.

http://www.nysun.com/pf.php?id=38409

[Kagemusha]

1. See? It's not just Palestinians who do this.

And it's not just Arabs for that matter. It's the first reaction of people much poorer than the soldiers living on their soil everywhere.

[Submariner]

2. Same thing in the Philippines

When the Air Force and Navy left in the 90s the bases were ransacked and stripped of anything that could be sold or bartered away.

Iraq-nam is going in the same direction. One can almost hear the helicopters approaching the Baghdad rooftops to pull our troop out of the ongoing clusterfuck.

[Freedom_from_Chains]

3. Another "Mission Accomplished", I see. n/t

[Dhalgren]

4. Lord of the Flies meets Road Warrior meets The Killing Fields

meets The Grapes of Wrath meets...

[Missy M]

5. Yep, they're really ready to take over.....

the article actually made me laugh, even though it's a serious situation. The Iraqis do know about entrepreneurship after reading the last paragraph on the post.

[lyonn]

6. When will the Iraqis vote to get us out?

Afterall, that is their country. We claim to have given them freedom yet we object to them doing things their way, like have themselves a Civil War!

You are a good man george bush (SARCASM).

[ConcernedCanuk]

12. Vote to get the USA out? - dream on - USA is building over a dozen bases

.
.
.

in Iraq

They ain't leaving!

ever

ask Japan and Germany -

They been there for over 6 decades

AND

have bases in over 130 countries in the world

Global domination is the USA's goal

nothing less

(sigh)

[Barrett808]

7. A glimpse of the near future, when the US is driven out

Those megabases and Green Zone palaces will have lots of stuff to loot.

[TexasLawyer]

13. Yes,

but it won't be happening any time soon, I'll bet!

[nashville_brook]

8. as if we expected this to be pretty...

it's a carnival of death. anyone expect any less?

[OwnedByFerrets]

9. More of our tax dollars at work n/t

[Dems Will Win]

10. Ferrets!

[Dems Will Win]

11. kick