Basra: The soldiers' tales

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Lt-Col Patrick Sanders

Commanding officer, 4 rifles battle group, in charge of basra palace

We had known for a while that we had to leave Basra Palace, but it was a hugely difficult matter with a lot of political complexities. We decided on a night move and it was broadly successful. We had one IED and three soldiers received minor injuries.

We have faced a lot of action while we were at Basra Palace and our guys have acted with immense courage. I could have stayed on there for another six months, we would have been able to defend ourselves, and killed a lot of people in the process, but what would that have achieved?

Some of the militias fighting us are nationalists and they do not like foreign troops in their country, and that is probably a healthy thing. Ninety per cent of the violence in Basra City was directed at foreign forces and by us leaving that violence should go down, so it was probably time for us to leave.

But there are also a lot of thugs among the militias and I am glad that British forces played a part in showing the local population that one can stand up to them. Was the war in Iraq justified? It is too early to tell. If Iraq manages to be at peace with itself and its neighbours then it would have been worthwhile. If that doesn't happen, questions will be asked.

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/article2927085.ece