UK forces prepare to retake Iraqi city

[ECH1969]

BRITISH forces were on standby tonight to retake the southern Iraqi town of al-Amarah after Shia militiamen loyal to the fundamentalist cleric Hojatoleslam Moqtada al-Sadr stormed the town.

Hundreds of Iraqi army and police reinforcements have already been rushed to the volatile town of feuding tribes and smugglers on the Iranian border. British troops withdrew from al-Amarah just two months ago, after a daily bombardment of mortar fire. Commanders in Basra were hastily assembling an expeditionary force to rejoin the fray if the Iraqis could not secure the town.

"We’re putting together a forces package here," said Major Charlie Burbridge, the British army spokesman in Basra. He added that at least one police station in al-Amarah had been torched and another abandoned by its occupants. The British reinforcement contingent could include as many as 500 troops backed by helicopters.

The fighting follows hard on the heels of a rampage of ethnic cleansing also blamed on the Mahdi Army, Moqtada al-Sadr’s violent militia, in the town of Balad, north of Baghdad. US forces had transferred security control to Iraqi troops a month ago but were forced to return to quell a killing spree that left close to 100 people dead.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,7374-2414081,00.html

[Tempest]

1. And in a month they'll have to come back and retake the town

The coalition forces take back a town, pull out after two weeks, the militias come back and the coalition forces have to come back and do it all over again.

What a waste.

[bemildred]

2. Didn't this sort of thing happen in Basra?

I could swear I remember there being trouble like this in Basra. How are things in Basra anyway? Brits still in charge down there?

[Amonester]

3. Didn't 'work' the first time...

So why would it 'work' this time?

Pathetic.

And it's One, Two, Three...
http://www.well.com/~cjfish/game.htm#cheer

[BluePatriot]

4. Hmm...

Amarah is close to the Iranian border.

"blah blah blah Iran is providing the militia that took over the city weapons and support blah blah blah therefore we must invade Iran"

I smell potential Gulf of Tonkin moment here. Let's keep an eye on this....

[Renew Deal]

5. See, the Iraqis took the town back because we are winning

And winnings share.

[Benhurst]

6. Queen Victoria is dead and buried.

The Empire is gone.

Brits go home!

And take your American cousins with you.

[dbt]

7. Tell me again how this ain't the Second Viet Nam.

Please try to:

A. Be convincing.
B. Keep a straight face.

:freak:
dbt
Remember New Orleans