OMG! "Peaceful" Basra Has Gone Crazy! Photo *graphic*...

[leftchick]

A British soldier jumps from a burning tank which was set ablaze after a shooting incident in the southern Iraqi city of Basra September 19, 2005. Angry crowds attacked a British tank with petrol bombs and rocks in Basra on Monday after Iraqi authorities said they had detained two British undercover soldiers in the southern city for firing on police. Two Iraqis were killed in the violence, an Interior Ministry official said. (Atef Hassan/Reuters)




A combo shows two British soldiers detained by Iraqi police sitting in a police station in the southern Iraqi city of Basra. Iraqi police have detained two British soldiers in the southern town of Basra, a British military spokesman said. British troops used force to gain the release of two of their comrades arrested earlier in the day by Iraqi police, a source at the Iraqi defense ministry told AFP.(AFP/Essam al-Sudani)

<Snip>

BASRA, Iraq (AP) - British forces using tanks broke down the walls of the central jail in the southern city of Basra late Monday and freed two Britons, allegedly undercover commandos, who had been arrested on charges of shooting two Iraqi policemen.

Witnesses said about 150 Iraqi prisoners also fled the jail.

Violence flared earlier in the day as demonstrators hurled stones and Molotov cocktails at British tanks; at least four people were killed.

The fighting erupted after British armor encircled the jail where the two Britons were being held. During the melee one soldier could be seen scrambling for his life from a burning tank and the rock-throwing mob.


http://apnews1.iwon.com//article/20050919/D8CNHCHG6.html?PG=home&SEC=news



:wow: :(

[DoYouEverWonder]

1. Wow, bad day for the Brits

Maybe the Iraqis are starting to realize who the real terrorists are?

[okieinpain]

3. oh now we are not the terrorist, those guy's are just doing what

good old boys do. and yes I know they are Britain's, but they are still good old boys who look down on the sand ni*****

[watrwefitinfor]

2. I'm a little confused here.

What is an "undercover soldier"?

And why they firing on Iraqi police?

Wat

[leftchick]

7. well things do become a little foggy in war...

my best guess is the Brits were doing a little special-ops work for their buds the USA and got caught. Nothing like perpetuating the chaos to keep the war profiteers RICH!

:grr:

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

15. Any military personnel (in ANY army) operating sans uniform

behind enemy lines is usually considered to be a spy or an agent provocateur.

Such agents are usually shot if and when captured.

[leftchick]

17. hey I agree with you!

this reminds me of Operation Phoenix in Vietnam. Another Success!

:(

[DrDebug]

8. Undercover soldier is a soldier in civilian clothes

They looked like Iraqis and they were in a car with explosives and fired upon the Iraqi police. Their mission was probably to bomb something.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

13. depends on the administration. With Clinton, one meaning. With

the BushBlair combine, it means you set out to deliberately assassinate certain elements to create the excuse for further military action. Kinda like what we did in Viet Nam a few years ago, with the president of the South.

With Clinton, an undercover agent is one who checks the DNA on blue dresses.
With BushBlair, they kill people.

[moodforaday]

25. undercover soldier = illegal combatant

I mean, if you're a soldier and not wearing uniform, then not even the Geneva convention applies to you, right?

[bobbieinok]

29. all the Afghanis in Gitmo are there b/c of this reasoning

[moodforaday]

31. Exactly what I mean. Now imagine

that Afghani military forces storm the Bagram base and free all the prisoners held there. This is essentially what the Brits did today, except Bagram is *in* Afghanistan, so their military would be on home ground. What would the US government - in this case - do to them?

The mind just never stops boggling.

[Ian David]

28. Undercover Soldier= "Unlawful Combatant"

At least, when someone else does it.

[gratuitous]

4. Is that our mission now in Iraq?

We're all done now, are we, with smokin' out Saddam and looking fer them dreaded WMDs. Now we're onto the wholesale slaughter of the civilian population under the guise of establishing order and bringing democracy.

Gee, if only someone had warned Bushie and Blairie ahead of time. You know, marched in the streets or something.

[me b zola]

21. Our mission is to CREATE a civil war so there will be an excuse to stay

To the world, I am so very sorry for what is being done in my name :cry:

[me b zola]

23. Recomended. This is the proof that we are NOT there to help the Iraqis!

:grr:

[hiley]

5. Basra is tired of the crap

hmm..

[Bouncy Ball]

6. Hang on a second!

I thought the Brits, the US and the Iraqi police were on the same fucking SIDE.

What the hell is going on???

Shit. I hope that one soldier in the top picture is ok, that looks bad.

:-(

[lonestarnot]

14. That was also my immediate reaction. WTF?

[Lone_Star_Dem]

16. What were these two up to?

This is not something I expect we will ever know for sure. But, this begs the question of why were these two undercover in the first place, and why was it worth all of this to get them out of there ASAP?

Someone was up to no good would be my guess.

[lonestarnot]

18. I just think that the right hand doesn't appear to know what the

left one is doing. That's what happens in a civil war.

[MADem]

33. Signs point to

an assassination team, off to foment violence or disarray against a faction that is less than friendly to the "democratic" government.

In other words, anyone who doesn't think like the occupying forces and opposes them could well have been the target, regardless of their ties or lack of same to insurgency.

The reason they need to be extracted is so that they don't wind up talking to the wrong people.

That is just a guess, but I wouldn't be surprised if it turned out like that.

[Moderator]

9. Appreciate the "graphic" disclaimer, thanks.

[BringEmOn]

10. Look out, Basra...here comes the napalm

[leftchick]

11. kids throwing stones at tanks...

Oh where have I seen this before??





An Iraqi boy uses a slingshot to throw stones at British forces, seen in background, in Basra, Iraq 550 kilometers (340 miles) southeast of Baghdad Monday Sept. 19, 2005. British forces and demonstrators exchanged gunfire in the southern city of Basra on Monday after two British men were arrested for allegedly gunning down an Iraqi police officer authorities and witnesses said Monday.(AP Photo/Nabil al-Jurani)

[slampoet]

27. I saw it first in the Bible.....

As I recall the little guy one that time.

And it's a sling the boy is using against that tank. Not a sling-shot like the description says.

[bobbieinok]

30. June 17, 1953 uprising in East Germany

[txindy]

32. Reminds me of Catholic kids in N. Ireland throwing stones atBritish forces

Except for the landscape, this is exactly what I was reminded of.

[gulfcoastliberal]

12. "Iraq is now sovereign"*

* - Unless they attempt to assert any kind of control over their country.

[The_Casual_Observer]

19. Apparently tanks are no match for Molotov cocktails and a determined

populace. If the other parts of Iraq catch wind of this, look out Chalabi.

[JNelson6563]

20. Good thing this is the "last throes"

of the insurgency. :sarcasm:

[Jacobin]

22. You know, if I didn't know better, I'd say Iraqis don't want us there

;-)

[Just Me]

24. So, Iraqi police believe they caught Sp Ops in the act,...

,...and, apparently, the Brits agreed and busted these two out of prison?

Doesn't look good,...does it.

[leftchick]

26. Not at all..

this is so fucking over. I just wish bush and blair would get the clue that it is.

:(