British soldiers wounded in Basra, reports of withdrawal

[Barrett808]

Source: Deutsche Presse-Agentur

Baghdad - An unidentified number of British soldiers were wounded in a twin blast when armed clashes erupted Sunday with the Shiite Mahdi Army in the southern Iraqi city of Basra city, sources said.

A British force had launched a search campaign in Shuala neighbourhood in western Basra, 550 kilometres south of Baghdad, Sunday morning and detained four suspected militants, independent Voices of Iraq news agency reported citing British army spokesperson Captain Katie Brown.

'While conducting raids in the area an explosive charge went off near a British force, wounding some soldiers who were taken to a British military medical facility for treatment,' Brown was quoted as saying.

She said two British bases in Basra have come under repeated attacks in the last 24 hours and there were no reports of casualties.

Read more: http://news.monstersandcritics.com/middleeast/news/article_1306772.php/British_soldiers_wounded_in_Basra_reports_of_withdrawal__1st_Lead_

[ohio2007]

1. Basra will disentegrate when the Brits leave

Britain has failed to stop southern Iraq falling into grip of militias


snip
The Iranians

You can't move far in Basra without bumping into some evidence of the Iranian influence on the city. Even inside the British consulate compound visitors are advised not to use mobile phones because, as the security official put it ,"the Iranians next door are listening to everything".

In the Basra market Iranian produce is everywhere, from dairy products to motorcycles and electronic goods. Farsi phrase books are sold in bookshops and posters of Ayatollah Khomeini are on the walls.

But Iranian influence is also found in more sinister places. Abu Mujtaba described the level of cooperation between Iran and his units. His account echoed what several militia men in other parts of Iraq have told me.

Sitting in his house in one of Basra's poorest neighbourhoods, he told me: "We need weapons and Iran is our only outlet. If the Saudis would give us weapons we would stop bringing weapons from Iran."


He went on: "They don't give us weapons, they sell us weapons: an Iranian bomb costs us $100, nothing comes for free. We know Iran is not interested in the good of Iraq, and we know they are here to fight the Americans and the British on our land, but we need them and they are using us."

Despite this scepticism about Tehran's motives, he said some Mahdi army units were now effectively under Iranian control. "Some of the units are following different commanders, and Iran managed to infiltrate , and these units work directly for Iran."

Most of the Shia militias and parties that control politics in Basra today were formed and funded by Tehran, he said.




snip

http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,,2083387,00.html?gusrc=rss&feed=12

no wonder the brits are eager to cut and run.
well,
we have overstayed our welcome ever since the day we found Saddam in that hole

[Kagemusha]

2. How bad it is in Basra has nothing to do with the Brits staying, or going

The Brit troops stayed because Tony Blair wanted to support Bush politically so that America wouldn't feel alone and abandoned and might consider doing what Tony Blair truly fears: stop fighting for Tony's ideals with American blood and treasure. If Gordon Brown pulls the troops out, it'll have nothing to do with the military situation and everything to do with distancing himself from Tony Blair's most unpopular political actions (which just happen to also be military actions). I'm still not convinced he's actually gonna pull the plug on Basra, either. If he does, it'll be only in the context of refocusing on the conflict in Afghanistan anyway. Big improvement there.

[rodeodance]

3. Gordon does not want to be knows as Poodle II