Trouble in Basra

[jonathan_ddr]

By Alaa Habib

BASRA, Iraq (Reuters) - Iraq denounced British forces on Tuesday over a dramatic rescue of two undercover soldiers that could stoke hostility towards foreign troops in increasingly volatile southern Iraq.

British forces used an armoured fighting vehicle on Monday to burst into an Iraqi jail in search of soldiers held by police in Basra. The British commander said he learnt they had been handed to militia and ordered their rescue from a nearby house.

"It is a very unfortunate development that the British forces should try to release their forces the way it happened," Haider al-Ebadi, an adviser to Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari, told a news conference in Baghdad.

The operation followed rioting that began, according to police and local officials, when the two soldiers fired on a police patrol. At least two Iraqis were killed in the violence.

Southern Iraq is home to several Shi'ite militias, including one loyal to radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, who fiercely opposes the presence of foreign troops and has led uprisings against the U.S. military.

Many Iraqis say the heavily armed militias act with impunity and are not answerable to the central government.

Tensions in Basra had risen on Sunday when British forces arrested two leading members of Sadr's Mehdi Army militia.

The tough British response is likely to further strain ties between Iraqis and British troops, who had maintained relatively good relations with the Shi'ite population of Basra with a low-profile security policy, in contrast to tougher U.S. tactics.

Britain, which has 8,500 troops in Iraq, said on Sunday it would send more if necessary. But a leaked memo signed by Defence Secretary John Reid in July envisioned bringing most of them home over the next year.

British soldiers have faced less popular anger in Iraq than their U.S. allies, but Iraqis vented their fury in Basra.

"Four tanks invaded the area. A tank cannon struck a room where a policeman was praying," said policeman Abbas Hassan, standing next to mangled cars outside the police station and jail that he said were crushed by British military vehicles.

"This is terrorism. All we had was rifles."

Iraqi state television footage showed the soldiers unshaven and looking nervous as police looked over wigs, Arab headresses, anti-tank missiles and electronic equipment, all apparently used in their mission.

Images of the pair seemed sure to fuel suspicions by militias in Basra and elsewhere who believe foreign troops are on a secret mission to exploit Iraq.

Unrest in the Shi'ite south, home to Iraq's biggest oil reserves, would pile more pressure on the Iraqi government, which is already fighting a Sunni Arab insurgency further north.

"It is inappropriate for any Iraqi to be insulted by a British or an American or any other occupier, we reject the occupying forces," said Basra resident Abbas Jassim.

"The British violated the government, police and the sons of this country, which we all reject."

British forces said the soldiers were in danger.

"From an early stage I had good reason to believe the lives of the two soldiers were at risk," Brigadier John Lorimer, the British commander in Basra, said in a statement.

BOOST FOR SHI'ITE MILITIAS

The raid could boost the popularity of Shi'ite cleric Sadr, who can mobilise thousands of supporters quickly.

"What the two Britons did was literally international terrorism," Ali al-Yassiri, an aide to Sadr, told Reuters.

"If the British had condemned this, it would have calmed the situation but instead they came and demanded them back which sets a dangerous precedent."

Lorimer said troops had been sent to the police station where the two men had been detained to help ensure their safety.

"As shown on television, these troops were attacked with firebombs and rockets by a violent and determined crowd."

Elsewhere in Iraq, violence continued in areas controlled by U.S. forces.

Four U.S. soldiers were killed by roadside bombs, the U.S. military said on Tuesday, bringing the number of American soldiers to die in Iraq since the March 2003 invasion to 1,906.

A roadside bomb attack on a convoy killed three private U.S. security contractors and a U.S. State Department security officer near the northern city of Mosul on Monday, the U.S. embassy said on Tuesday.

A statement on the embassy Web site identified the State Department security officer as Stephen Eric Sullivan.

In Fort Hood, Texas, a court held a hearing a day before the trial of Lynndie England, the U.S. soldier who held an Iraqi inmate on a leash in the Abu Ghraib prison scandal.

Judge Col. James Pohl expressed scepticism about the central defence argument that England, 22, was overly compliant towards authority figures and could not always reason on her own.

She is pictured in some of the most notorious Abu Ghraib photographs of abuse, which caused global outrage and was a major setback to the United States.

http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/news..._0_UK-IRAQ.xml

Uh..Oh!!,We have upset the natives.

Well what do they expect, they stop a special ops unit and try to arrest them, its obvious that the spec ops team will not allow them selves to be arrested as that would put them in harms way without any way to protect them selves.

I agree a more diplomatic solution to the problem should have been used but then the Police did hand the two men over to a Militia unit…
What did they expect to happen, they were ordered by the government to hand the men over but refused?

The protesters that attacked the Warrior were protesting at one of the Militia's top men being arrested and I must say that the crew showed great restraint under difficult circumstances and did the UK Army proud. I would have not blamed them if they had opened fire and crushed a few asunder.

If you look in the film footage some of the protesters were armed with AK's and RPG's. Rent a Mob as the papers put it.

This episode proves that there is a long way still to go before the Army and Police can trust each other, it also shows that there are supporters within the Police for the renegade cleric who I would have had shot a long time ago along with his armed supporters.
Why they are letting him get away with this I do not know.

Blunders happen and when the Special Forces blunder they blunder spectacularly.

Oh well...sods law.
At least they were found with their heads still on; and that was on a tip off. So it looks like we still have our supporters in Basra.

Jon

[Anth]

Cheers for the post mate

Report on the rescue here.

[Woodmonkey]

Originally Posted by jonathan_ddr

http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/news..._0_UK-IRAQ.xml

Uh..Oh!!,We have upset the natives.

Well what do they expect, they stop a special ops unit and try to arrest them, its obvious that the spec ops team will not allow them selves to be arrested as that would put them in harms way without any way to protect them selves.

I agree a more diplomatic solution to the problem should have been used but then the Police did hand the two men over to a Militia unit…
What did they expect to happen, they were ordered by the government to hand the men over but refused?

The protesters that attacked the Warrior were protesting at one of the Militia's top men being arrested and I must say that the crew showed great restraint under difficult circumstances and did the UK Army proud. I would have not blamed them if they had opened fire and crushed a few asunder.

If you look in the film footage some of the protesters were armed with AK's and RPG's. Rent a Mob as the papers put it.

This episode proves that there is a long way still to go before the Army and Police can trust each other, it also shows that there are supporters within the Police for the renegade cleric who I would have had shot a long time ago along with his armed supporters.
Why they are letting him get away with this I do not know.

Blunders happen and when the Special Forces blunder they blunder spectacularly.

Oh well...sods law.
At least they were found with their heads still on; and that was on a tip off. So it looks like we still have our supporters in Basra.

Jon

I've been following this and almost posted an article but thought it should come from one of you guys. The soldiers never should have been arrested and it would destroy morale if they weren't rescued. Much better to step on a few toes, than risk those soldiers being killed. As for building support for Sadr, you are ****ed if you do, and ****ed if you don't. If it wasn't this, it would be something else that did it.

Good job!

[Joker]

Originally Posted by jonathan_ddr

I agree a more diplomatic solution to the problem should have been used but then the Police did hand the two men over to a Militia unit…

Or so we are told. Ever notice how first reports of such incidents, be they in Basra or on the London Underground, tend to put the 'coalition' forces firmly on the side of the angels, and nothing that is revealed later on manages to shake that initial impression?

[jonathan_ddr]

Having at least a day to think about this even though I am half asleep due to shifts. The UK armed Forces seem to only use force when deemed necessary, after all else fails we use a sledgehammer to knock in a glass pin.

If we had done nothing these men would have been dead. It is obvious from the equipment pics that they were on a surveillance mission as there was not much firepower.
Lots of coms and positioning equipment which I hope we managed to retrieve, as I don't want those idiots getting hold of any thing my tax money is likely to have purchased.

I know I do not have all the full facts and the news coverage is a bit sketchy but it seems to me that more than meets the eye was going on and maybe we will not know all the facts.

But…WELL DONE LADS.

Jon

[Snowden]

They are alive and free. 'Nuff said. Except for "Congratulations!!!!!!"

[jonathan_ddr]

News today:

A judge in southern Iraq has issued an arrest warrant for the two British soldiers, for the death of an Iraqi civilian and wounding a police officer.

It is said that the two soldiers were carrying out surveillance out side a Police station when they were challenge by a police patrol.

Uk soldiers are immune from Iraqi law so apparently the arrest warrant is not valid, but the judge claims that the MOD have not given proof that these are British soldiers and wants them returned to confirm their citizenship

The Iraqi central government was unaware of the warrant issue and claimed it was against their wishes.

I doubt that these two soldiers are any where near Iraq and are proberly back home, and I don’t think we have any extradition agreement with Iraq.

We will have to see where this is going but sounds like some one wants to increase their influence in the region.

Jon