WP: An End to the Soft Sell By the British in Basra(avg 1 per day)

[maddezmom]

By Jonathan Finer
Washington Post Foreign Service
Sunday, February 26, 2006; Page A16

BASRA, Iraq -- In a region long insulated from the rampant unrest in Iraq, relations between British forces and local leaders have deteriorated sharply in recent weeks as violence has escalated in and around this southeastern city, military commanders and residents said.

A series of damaging incidents began in September with an attempt by British troops to forcibly free two of their soldiers from a local prison, and escalated when they arrested 14 Iraqi police officers last month. In late January, a roadside bomb in nearby Umm Qasr killed the 100th British service member to die in the Iraq war. Less than two weeks later, the release of a two-year-old video showing British soldiers battering Iraqi boys sparked several small but angry demonstrations.

As the tension has grown in Basra, so has the murder rate. Since November, the rate has doubled, to an average of more than one per day, according to data provided by the British military. Among the victims this month was an interpreter working with British troops.

Gone are the days when British forces, who came to Basra during the 2003 invasion, won wide praise for their less confrontational approach, patrolling city streets in floppy berets and soft-skinned vehicles -- which they still use, though not as often. As they prepare to transfer more responsibility for security to Iraqi forces, the British acknowledge that their methods have failed to prevent the rise of the militia groups -- many of them linked to mainstream political parties -- that they now consider the region's greatest security threat.

more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/24/AR2006022402380.html

[lakeguy]

1. yeah, i guess beating up kids in the town you are supposedly there

to protect has a way of making the people turn against you. don't think it was the floppy berets and soft shell jeeps that f'ed it up.

[harlinnchi]

2. So does having your troops, dressed as Arabs, caught with...

...explosives!

[Trevelyan]

3. Support some of the UK sites like Blair Watch and Craig Murray's site

UK sites have said that British citizens don't have the web presence of the USA and I know from my gymnastics sites where I post photos of gymnasts and petitions and other political material that I have gotten negative comments on from UK, Brazilian and Hungarian members that they prefer living in a bubble but I still post the political material since it is my blogsites.

http://sports.groups.yahoo.com/group/NadiaAndFriends/