British to evacuate consulate in Basra after mortar attacks

[cal04]

The British consulate in Basra will evacuate its heavily defended building in the next 24 hours over concerns for the safety of its staff.

Despite a large British military presence at the headquarters in Basra Palace, a private security assessment has advised the consul general and her staff to leave the building after experiencing regular mortar attacks in the last two months.

The move will be seen as a huge blow to progress in Iraq and has infuriated senior military commanders. They say it sends a message to the insurgents that they are winning the battle in pushing the British out of the southern Iraqi capital, where several British soldiers have died and dozens have been injured.

The evacuation also comes halfway through Operation Sinbad, which has experienced some success in restoring control in Basra. The operation ends early next year but Basra will need massive investment by the Foreign Office and the Department for International Development to build on its successes.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/10/30/wirq30.xml&DCMP=EMC-new_30102006

[LynnTheDem]

1. Choppers off the roof, baby!

Lie down with warmongers...

[amandabeech]

11. By the looks of it on the water there,

we could see some swift boat evac action.

Where's Kerry? The British have hired Gore, why not Kerry?

[LynnTheDem]

2. "a huge blow to progress in Iraq"

Ummm...

[Binka]

4. More Like A Huge Blow To The Roof Of The Consulate

Jesus will the press please grow up this pap sounds like it was written for a Jr High school newspaper.

[oblivious]

3. I googled 'Basra Palace' - Photos when it was Brit military headqtrs

Inside Saddam's ornate palaces
Fifty-six windows on its facade, 18 giant rooms, 12 balconies, eight spacious toilets, five staircases and three separate roof units.

And this is just one of 15 sumptuous buildings in the same complex.

While all around the south of Iraq people live in squalor, who would live in a palace like this?

The answer is obvious: Saddam Hussein.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/2925297.stm

So the Brits took it over to show Iraqis their new masters were just as corrupt as their old masters. Oh the hypocrisy of the Brits and their faithful propaganda rag the BBC.

British troops take over Saddam's palace in Basra
April 7 2003

...The ostentation of the buildings and gardens - not to mention a swimming pool and yacht moorings - struck the Marines after pushing through scenes of appalling poverty and destruction.

"It's fairly striking - the rich-poor divide, particularly having just driven through the outskirts of Basra and seeing the extraordinary poverty there," said Captain Oliver Lee, Operations Officer with 42 Commando.

"To then come in here is quite an extraordinary experience. If one assumes this is the gatehouse it is not short on opulence."

The "gatehouse", the first building inside the perimeter gates was bigger than most colonial mansions and had a heavily ornate carved wooden door and massive pillars on top of the front steps.
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/04/07/1049567618442.html

British labour MP report
"The British troops in many ways have more control in Al Amarah than Sadam ever had..."
http://www.epolitix.com/EN/MPWebsites/Dai+Havard/37238fe3-1e9c-4a5d-948e-923e74699692.htm









http://www.pbase.com/bmcmorrow/image/59142404






more: http://www.pbase.com/kissfoto/basra_palace
http://www.pbase.com/bmcmorrow/basrah
May 2004: Basra Palace - Brigade Headquarters


Even the bathrooms and toilets are decorated with a gold finish

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/photo_gallery/2926141.stm

[DoYouEverWonder]

5. Looks like your average

Palm Beach Mansion. Places like this are a abundant in So FL.

One thing you have to say for Saddam, at least he knew how to build things and keep people busy.

[tkmorris]

6. LOL yep

I can't tell you how many ostentatious gatehouses I've driven past that had buildings just like that behind their hedges. Sometimes I really hate this place.

[0007]

10. Many thanks for the article and photos....

[muriel_volestrangler]

7. Diary of a BBC news anchor who spent time in the palace last week

Sunday

We leave the air station for Basra Palace in Basra City. Saddam's son Uday had it built - it was a handy little pad for his fornicating, torturing hobbies. Now the British are here: the Foreign Office, Department for International Development and sundry others. I asked if we could drive: it's only six miles. They laughed. Drive through the city? Might as well put your head in a mincing machine. So it's a chopper ride. It's scary - especially when we're coming in to land and there are two almighty flashes outside the windows. I jump. The soldiers laugh. It's just the captain firing off flares to fool any missiles aimed at us.

Monday
Basra palace

This is luxury compared with the air station - not that we are staying in the actual palace. Senior staff and important visitors get 'pods' - like rows of prefabs, only much, much tougher. Just as well. They are more comfortable but much more dangerous.

This place gets attacked all the time. I counted nine rockets last night. There are more this afternoon. One lands on the roof of my producers' pod - a couple of feet above their heads. The shrapnel tears chunks out of a building 100 yards away. But they're OK - just very badly shaken.

There's a swimming pool here, too. The health and safety brigade have stuck up the usual notices: 'Warning! No lifeguard on duty!' 'No running or diving!' I don't suppose they see the irony. I decide to risk a swim and ask a soldier about a rocket landing in the pool. He says: 'No worries. Just dive under and stay there.' I wonder how long I'd 'just stay there' with a bloody big rocket exploding in the water. But I take a swim anyway. It's wonderful.

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,,1933915,00.html

[cal04]

8. Bulk of UK Basra consular staff move to airport

Britain is moving most civilian staff from its consulate in the southern Iraqi city of Basra to the airport because of the threat of mortar attacks, the Foreign Office said on Monday.

A spokesman said the Consul General and some senior and support staff would stay put in the central Basra headquarters.

"Some of the British civilian presence in Basra is moving from the Basra palace compound to Basra airport," he said. "It's taking place now ... the bulk of the staff will move out."

Britain has some 7,200 troops in southern Iraq, mostly stationed in and around Basra. But the city remains dangerous, with Shi'ite factions battling each other for control, and British troops occasionally caught in the middle.

http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=1606042006

[Roland99]

9. DICK: "Things are going remarkably well"

[Barrett808]

12. The withdrawal proceeds apace

I wonder if the people "in charge" fully understand that the withdrawal is already underway...

[bemildred]

13. It's called "redeployment", which is not exactly incorrect.

Like "advancing" away from a combat zone.

[Supersedeas]

14. Nothing to see here: feed them more Jim Webb exerpts

[Stockholm]

15. Is this winning in Irag?

Very important piece of news - kick!