[lbo-talk] Ind: Endgame in Basra, UK holed up on edge of town

Michael Pollak mpollak at panix.com
Sun Jul 1 11:36:36 PDT 2007


http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/article2725713.ece

01 July 2007

Independent (UK)

Brown's Wars Part 2: Meltdown on the frontline in Basra

The only people venturing out are British troops, and three died on the

PM's first day. Will Miliband persuade his boss to pull them out?

By Raymond Whitaker

The blast that killed Private James Kerr and Private Scott Kennedy,

both 20, and Corporal Paul Joszko, 28, would have been heard across

half of Basra. It happened at 1am on Thursday in the deserted streets

of al-Antahiya, on the southern outskirts of the city.

The men would have known their mission was dangerous. They had left the

relative security of Basra air station - Britain's main base in Iraq,

which is spread across a wide expanse of desert bordering the city's

airport - to resupply the only British contingent still within the city

limits, at Basra Palace. There are only a few possible routes between

the two bases, as local insurgents well know, and most journeys are

undertaken by helicopter.

To minimise the risk of travelling by road, the convoy had gone to

Basra Palace in darkness, when ordinary residents of the city remain

indoors, behind high walls. The only people to venture out are British

troops - and those they are fighting. The soldiers had delivered their

supplies, and were on the way back when they left their Warrior

armoured vehicles to check their surroundings. At this point, it

appears, a hidden watcher triggered the bomb that killed the three men

and seriously wounded a fourth.

<snip>

In one of the most detailed independent reports on Basra since the

invasion, the authoritative International Crisis Group (ICG) last week

painted a devastating portrait of life in the city. It said Operation

Sinbad, Britain's attempt between September 2006 and March this year to

root out militias, restore security and kick-start economic

reconstruction, appeared at first to be a qualified success.

Criminality, political assassinations and sectarian killings receded

somewhat, and relative calm prevailed.

"Yet this reality was both superficial and fleeting," says the ICG

report. "By March-April 2007, renewed political tensions once more

threatened to destabilise the city, and relentless attacks on British

forces in effect had driven them off the streets into increasingly

secluded compounds. Basra's residents and militiamen view this not as

an orderly withdrawal, but rather as an ignominious defeat. Today the

city is controlled by militias."

The ICG blames Britain for "the most glaring failing of all": the

inability to establish a strong provincial administration capable of

enforcing its will. Instead of the political parties responsible for

the violence being confronted, they were treated as partners - an

object lesson, it says, of what the Americans should not do as they

carry out their security "surge" in Baghdad.

While others might disagree with the group's belief that British forces

could ever have achieved such a transformation in Basra, they probably

would not quarrel with its conclusion that "in Basra the British appear

to have given up on the idea of establishing a functioning state,

capable of equitably redistributing wealth and resources, establishing

respect for the rule of law and instituting a genuine and accountable

democracy". The report adds: "In any event, time is running out. Four

years after the fall of Saddam's regime, they are facing increasingly

frequent and bloody attacks, and it is hard to imagine them remaining

for long." Even if the coalition wanted to re-engage, says the ICG "it

already may well be too late".

That was clear the minute Mr Blair, for once going against American

wishes, announced early this year that British forces would be reduced

from just over 7,000 to their present 5,500. The bitter irony of last

week's attack is that the resupply convoy on which the three soldiers

died may well have been the last to Basra Palace, which is due to be

handed over to Iraqi forces any day now. That will leave the airport as

the only British base in Iraq.

Military sources believe another 500 troops may come home soon, but

that would be the last partial withdrawal: 5,000 is considered the

minimum to ensure that the remaining force can protect itself. But what

would be the point, many ask, of keeping them in one location, unable

to achieve much beyond acting as a magnet for insurgent attacks?

Critics argue that a precipitate British withdrawal would make the

violence in Basra even worse. The diminished British presence has

created worsening friction with American commanders, who are concerned

about the security of the supply route from Kuwait. If the British

left, they say, American troops would have to be sent south to fill the

void.

<end excerpt>



More information about the lbo-talk mailing list